The key to the negotiation of the Government of Pedro Sánchez and NATO to disconnect from the 5% target of GDP for defense spending goes through the commitment to the capabilities of the Atlantic Alliance.
That is, Spain achieves an exception in writing by the NATO general general to 5% in exchange for complying with the capabilities targets (Capacity objectives), cost what it costs. And Spain thinks that it can be worth 2.1% of GDP and NATO believes that it will have to be at least 3.5%.
What are the 'capabilities targets'?
Often it is translated by objectives of capacities, military requirements or military objectives. NATO officially defines a capability as “the ability to generate an effect by using an integrated set of aspects classified as doctrine, organization, training, material, leadership development, personal, facilities and interoperability.”
In Routte's words: “The specific and practical requirements that guarantee that we can put our defense plans into practice.” That is, an ability of NATO is to do something that allows to achieve a specific objective.
NATO establishes capacity objectives that define what allies should be able to provide, but does not tell them how they should do it.
For example, an ally can agree to develop the ability to provide the alliance with a clear image of what is happening on the ground in an operational area. It depends on that ally to determine which specific platforms (that is, what systems, tools, technology, etc.) will develop to offer this capacity.
Although NATO leaves in the hands of the allies the determination of how to fulfill a capacity of capacity, the systems and methods they use are interoperable: normalization makes the forces of the NATAR share common doctrines and procedures, compatible systems and equipment and interchangeable supplies.
Although the development of national capacity is a sovereign responsibility, NATO sets the development and fulfillment of national capacity.
The alliance continually evaluates what capacities are necessary, depending on the security environment and the new technological advances.
New capacities objectives
The NATO defense ministers agreed a new set of capacity objectives in June 2025 based on the defense plans adopted at the 2023 Vilna Summit.
The new capacity objectives require more forces, equipped with the appropriate tools and backed by a greater investment in defense. They also require greater industrial defense capacity, stronger supply chains and new technologies.
The main priorities include air defense and antimiles, long -range weapons, logistics and large terrestrial maneuver formations.
NATO is based on a combination of nuclear, conventional capacities and ballistic antimile defense systems, complemented with spatial and cyber abilities. And they are for all areas: aerial, terrestrial, maritime, spatial and cybernetic.
The NATO defense planning process (NDPP) is the main means to identify and prioritize the necessary capabilities for complete spectrum operations in order to fulfill the three fundamental tasks enunciated by NATO (deterrence and defense; prevention and crisis management; and cooperative security), and to promote their development and execution.
The vast majority of the systems that allow the critical capabilities of the alliance are of national responsibility, acquired and operated by the allies themselves. However, NATO also maintains its own platforms, which allies collectively manage.
Some examples
Information about capacities objectives is classified.
At the moment, Rutte has limited themselves to putting some examples: the air defense systems have to be multiplied by five, acquiring thousands of tanks and armored vehicles and millions of ammunition cartridges. With that he wants to make an “stronger, more just and more lethal” NATO. And it is that the NATO general secretary has already been warned on several occasions that the world of allies are not at war, but neither in the peace period.
“The details of our plans are, of course, confidential,” said the NATO general secretary on Tuesday at his press conference prior to the Hague Summit. “But allow me to give them some examples of what we are going to invest: quintupply the air defense capacity. Because we see every day the mortal terror that Russia is sowing from the heavens on Ukraine, and we must be able to defend ourselves from such attacks. Thousands of more armored tanks and vehicles. Because, although the war is quickly changing, we continue to need to protect our soldiers in the battlefield. And millions of artillery cartridges, because it is thanks to these reserves as we can deter any aggressive threat. ”
“As we invest more, it is essential that we also produce more. At present, there is not enough supply to meet our growing demand on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said. “For this, we must collaborate closely with the industry, both with the main actors that constitute the basis of our defense industry and with the new actors that will help us already guarantee our technological advantage in the future. This also means collaborating with our closest partners, including Ukraine, the European Union and our partners of the Indo -Pacific Region.”
The objectives of Spain have an important naval component, of logistics elements, of infrastructure and military mobility, reports Europa Press.
Spent
The expense is the money that must be contributed to meet those objectives, requirements and requirements set by NATO and those that each country is committed based on its singularities.
According to Donald Trump and NATO, it will be necessary for each country to reach 5% of GDP in defense to meet those objectives.
And that 5% is divided into two parts: 3.5% for pure and hard military expenditure and 1.5% corresponding to expenditure associated with defense, such as critical infrastructure protection, interoperability, mobility, cybersecurity, etc.
According to the government, Spain can fulfill its commitments to NATO with 2.1%. According to NATO, Spain will need a minimum of 3.5% of GDP in defense.
“Spain believes that these objectives can achieve with a percentage of 2.1%. NATO is absolutely convinced that Spain will have to spend 3.5% together,” Routte replied to journalists.
The scrutiny of whether or not to meet the requirements of NATO will arrive later, with the analysis of the plans that “periodically” will have to present the Member States.
And those processes, within the organization, are buried in opacity. So it is not even clear that Spain will publicly take a rapopoly to breach. And if you do, it will be later. The first formal review of these capacities objectives will be in 2029, although the annual reports published by NATO appears the percentage of spending GDP in defense of each country.
Thus, Sánchez has managed to skip a specific percentage of GDP that Spain dedicates to the defense, as long as it meets the objectives of capacity already agreed in the Atlantic Alliance.
The exception agreed between the government of Sánchez and Routte allows Spain not to commit to the military expenditure in about 80,000 million euros – until 5% of GDP -, a complicated decision before the electorate on the left and its legislature partners, beyond unrealizable from the point of view of the public finances of a progressive government.
