The way out from the COVID-19 crisis: will the EU work for peace or prepare for war? On Europe Day, the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) and the European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT) call the EU to fund peace, not arms dealers.
The EU High Representative Mr Borrell stated on April 24 that the world will look very different after the COVID-19 crisis and will depend on the choices made today. On the eve of Europe Day celebrating peace and unity, the EU bears a large responsibility for how this future will look like, and has a key choice to make: work for sustainable peace by seriously tackling the root causes of conflicts, or continue the path to militarism and prepare for war.
Global military spending saw its biggest increase in a decade in 2019, a growth Europe largely contributed to. The Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) 2020 that are closing tomorrow brought attention to the vast opportunity costs of the current levels of military spending: 1.91 trillion US$ in 2019, almost $5 billion per day, $239 per person.
The COVID-19 crisis requires now a drastic overhaul of the initial MFF proposal, and one could hope a refocus on health and environmental challenges, and on the communities most affected by them. But the military-industrial complex and its supporters are rallying and calling loud and clear for maintaining or even increase EU funding for th
More information on ENAAT can be found here.