Covid-19 and the German Defence Technological and Industrial Base: Impact and Policy Responses

Germany considers its Defence Technological and Industrial base (DTIB) to be of strategic importance. It is crucial to the security of supply and a building block for cooperation within the EU and NATO. While the government’s help to defence companies during the current crisis is quite extensive, it does not differ from that given to other industrial sectors. Moreover, procedural changes aiming to help the DTIB overcome the liquidity crisis caused by the economic shutdown, e.g. in procurement processes, take time to be implemented. Lastly, the mid-term impact on German defence spending is still unknown. Even though Germany is in a comparatively sound position economically, domestic conflict in the coalition government and national elections in 2021 might make defence spending a contentious issue in the coming year…