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Further Reading

France - Military Spending

Among the larger European economies, France and the United Kingdom are the only significant spenders on defense. The two together account for 40 percent of European Union (EU) defense spending. Each spends well over 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), while most other EU countries spend less than 1.5 percent of GDP.

In mid-2010 the French Defence Ministry was preparing for a reduction of 2 billion euros to 3 billion euros in the best case and 4.8 billion euros in the worst over the next three years. The Defence Ministry had experienced two years of budgetary buoyancy, with equipment spending in 2010 set at 17 billion euros out of a total budget of 32.2 billion euros, excluding pensions. The 33 billion euro budget for 2009 included 18 billion for equipment.

Defence spending had been increased substantially since 2002, with the objective of reaching 2.5% of GDP. This increase has been enshrined in the Military Planning Act for 2003-2008, which calls for spending of 14.84 billion euros each year to maintain and improve capabilities through delivery of new equipment. This represented an average increase of 6.8% in constant euros over the whole period compared to the previous Military Planning Act for 1997-2002. In fiscal year 2007, France's defense budget reached US$45 billion, a modest dollar increase from 2006 that represented 2.6 percent of GDP. A declining share of France's defense budget - now less than 10 percent - goes toward its nuclear force. For comparision with France's military expenditiures, the U.S. defense budget in 2007 was about 3.2 percent of GDP and dollar figures that dwarf the spending of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partners. In 2008, defence spending represented at least 2% of GDP.

The paramilitary gendarmerie is the organization in France ultimately responsible for homeland security. Much of the increase in the military budget of 2003-8, an increase slated to reinforce the French military's capacity to fight terrorism, was devoted to bolstering the gendarmerie. The extra funds for the gendarmerie were applied to renewing the vehicle fleet - with the replacement of 122 VBRGs (gendarmerie wheeled armored vehicles) - and additional surveillance, intervention, and rescue helicopters, as well as improved computer systems.

France bears an important share of the responsibility of defending Europe's security and stability. France endorses U.S. calls for European defense spending levels to be raised sufficiently to allow credible self-defense, the development of effective crisis reaction capabilities, and greater participation in international responses to global challenges. While France does not participate in the Alliance's military command structure, it has consistently demonstrated its willingness to engage in collective responses to common threats. France was among the first allies to seek a role in the war on terrorism, and plays a leading role in other allied operations. France's military is also undergoing a major restructuring towards a smaller, modernized, and all-professional force that will be both more deployable, and interoperable with U.S. and allied militaries.

France's defense spending in 2001 ($33.6 billion) was the fourth highest of all US allies. In December 2001, an additional $3.1 billion was allocated to defense. While most of these funds were devoted to the A400M transport aircraft project, $398 million was designated for equipment upgrades associated with the war against terrorism. France devoted the sixth highest percentage of defense spending (19.9 percent) to NATO modernization programs (i.e., procurement, and research and development).

France is the second largest contributor of peacekeeping personnel in the world after the United States. During 2001, French troops and civilian police participated in UN missions in Sierra Leone, Lebanon, the Republic of Georgia, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Western Sahara, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and on the borders between Iraq and Kuwait, and Eritrea and Ethiopia. At the end of the year, 5,200 French troops were serving in Kosovo, where France assumed command of KFOR in October 2001. France also currently commands SFOR's sensitive Multi-National Division (Southeast) sector in Bosnia, where it has about 2,200 troops. France contributed an additional 225 troops to NATO's Task Force Fox in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In addition to the troops serving in multinational peacekeeping operations, France had over 24,000 military personnel stationed abroad in 2000, including approximately 6,100 in Africa.

France consistently spends the largest share of GDP on official development assistance of all the Group of Seven (G-7) nations. Between 1998 and 2000, its foreign assistance outlays averaged nearly half a percent of GDP (0.46 percent). Absolute contributions increased in 2000 with total grant aid contributions of over $5.8 billion.

France serves as administrative point of contact for the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and played an important role in establishing the MTCR's international code of conduct against proliferation of ballistics missiles in 2001. France participates in the Australia Group for the control of chemicals and technologies related to biological warfare, as well as the Nuclear Suppliers Group for the control of nuclear-related, dual-use technologies and equipment. It also works closely with the United States and other allies on a program for the disposition of Russia's weapons-grade plutonium, and, as a member of the UN Conference on Disarmament, is helping to develop guidelines for a fissile material cutoff treaty regime.