re: Trump made an interesting point about our GDP and NATO

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Again, we don’t “contribute 4% to NATO.” We spend 4% of our own GDP on our own military budget because we have decided to spend that much of our money on our military. We don’t pay that money to anyone.

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DIRECT FUNDING OF NATO

Direct financial contributions to NATO come principally in two different forms: common funding and joint funding. They can also come in the form of trust funds, contributions in kind, ad hoc sharing arrangements and donations.

Several factors influence the choice of funding source to address a given priority. These include the required level of integration or interoperability, affordability at the national level, the complexity of the system involved, and the potential for economies of scale. Often, a combination of funding sources is used.

The principle of common funding

When a need for expenditure has been identified, countries in the Resource Policy and Planning Board discuss whether the principle of common funding should be applied – in other words whether the requirement serves the interests of all the contributing countries and should therefore be borne collectively.

The criteria for common funding are held under constant review and changes may be introduced as a result of changing circumstances, for instance, the need to support critical requirements in support of Alliance operations and missions.

Common-funding arrangements principally include the NATO civil and military budgets, as well as the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP). These are the only funds where NATO authorities identify the requirements and set the priorities in line with overarching Alliance objectives and priorities.

Where military common funding is concerned – the military budget and the NSIP – the guiding principle for eligibility is the “over and above” rule:

“Common funding will focus on the provision of requirements which are over and above those which could reasonably be expected to be made available from national resources.”

Member countries contribute to NATO in accordance with an agreed cost-sharing formula based on Gross National Income.

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