Germany to 'rationalise' defence spending

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, JUNE 18. Although it is boom time for Germany, the world's third biggest economy, and its growth rate may soon equal that of the United States, the country has embarked upon ``rationalising'' its defence spending.

The Defence and Finance Ministries have agreed to channel funds into high-technology military investment to equip the army. The authorities have adopted a series of ``rationalisation measures'' which will save German treasury some half a billion dollars a year and all this will be invested in high-technology military equipment to prepare the army for military challenges in the 21st century.

The German Cabinet has approved plans which would cut troops from 324,000 to 255,000 and although conscription would remain, the length of service would be reduced from 10 months to nine. However, German investment in high-tech military equipment would rise from about 25 per cent to 30 per cent.

The German strategy of rationalising and modernising its army is keenly watched by military observers of all nations. Although Germany has emerged as Europe's locomotive economy and today Germans enjoy the highest standard of living in their history, the German defence authorities are often described as ``shrewd but frugal'' in their spending.

NATO officials here have consistently argued that Germany ranks among major industrial countries which are not spending enough to meet agreed military commitments.

Last year, the German defence spending was 1.5 per cent of the country's GDP compared to the U.S.'s 3.2 per cent, France 2.8 and Britain 2.6 per cent.

The German defence experts put more emphasis on ``maximum military productivity levels'' of the defence forces and feel that the outcome of future military conflicts will depend more on the nation's deployment of high-technology than on conventional military infrastructure. The German Federal Budget, due to be presented next week, may not call for extra funds for defence spending.

The current German defence strategy is also based on the perception that Europe should not become ``over-reliant'' on the U.S. to face military challenges on the European continent. The German Defence Minister, Mr. Scharping recently said the threat of land invasion from the East, which has been the main basis of Western defence strategy, may not happen in the post-Cold War era.

The Soviet Union and the communist regimes in Eastern and Central Europe have collapsed. the former communist-ruled East European countries are in the process of adopting multi- party parliamentary democracy and governance based on the rule of law and economic development moderated by principles of free market economy, with aspirations to become full members of the European Union and in some cases the NATO military alliance. Germany has heavily invested in the development and modernisation of the economies of Eastern Europe generally and Russia particularly.

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Section  : International
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