European defense budgets have doubled from EUR 200 billion to EUR 400 billion over the past five years.

Omissions

• The MEP uses rounded figures (€200 billion and €400 billion) that understate both the 2021 baseline (actually ~€214–218 billion) and the 2025 endpoint (actually ~€418 billion).
• The 'past five years' from mid-2026 points to mid-2021–mid-2026; the most recent confirmed annual figure at the time of the session was €418 billion for 2025, representing a ~93–95% increase from 2021 — close to but not exactly a doubling.
• The EDA's definitive 2025 data press release was published on 16 July 2026, one month after the session, so the MEP could not have cited that specific publication, though preliminary 2025 figures were likely known earlier through other channels.
• The claim refers to EU-27 defence budgets; the 2021 EDA figure of €214 billion covers only 26 EDA Member States (Denmark was not yet an EDA member), while the 2025 figure of €418 billion covers all 27 EU Member States.

Sources

• PrimaryEuropean Defence Agency – Defence Data 2020–2021In 2021, total defence expenditure of the 26 EDA Member States amounted to €214 billion, marking the seventh year of consecutive growth.
• PrimaryEuropean Defence Agency – News release (16 July 2026)Defence spending by the EU's 27 Member States reached €418 billion in 2025, a 20% increase compared to 2024.
• SecondaryEuropean Parliament Think Tank – EU defence fundingIn 2021, the combined defence budgets of the 27 EU Member States amounted to around €218 billion. […] Projections indicate that in 2025 expenditure could reach €392 billion at current prices (€381 billion in 2024 prices), or 2.1% of GDP.
• SecondaryConsilium – EU defence in numbersIn 2025, member states' defence expenditure reached €418 billion, rising for the 11th consecutive year. In 2026, it is expected to reach an estimated €454 billion.