The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers has once again resorted to the Contingency Fund to finance the peacekeeping missions Spain maintains abroad.
Specifically, yesterday the Government authorized the application of the Contingency Fund to finance two credit modifications for a total amount of 617,262,332.97 euros. As it has been usual for years, by far the most important part will correspond to the 581,254,141 Euros which will be destined to an increase of credit in the Ministry of Defense to cover the expenses caused by the participation of the Spanish Armed Forces in peacekeeping operations.
Another part, of 36,008,191.97 Euros, will go to an addition of credit in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to finance the subsidies established in the Royal Decree Law of March 29, which adopts urgent measures within the framework of the National Plan of response to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine.
The Contingency Fund is a mechanism for dealing with unforeseen situations and is frequently used by the Government (especially since 1998) to finance operations abroad, since the General State Budget usually devotes a very small amount to these missions. Parliamentary groups have repeatedly called in Congress for this model to be changed and for the funding of missions to also be included in the heading for Defense in the General Budgets.
In April 2017, the Ministry of Defense (at the time, with Dolores de Cospedal as head) obtained a contingency fund of more than 704 million euros. Likewise, in the 2018 Budgets, an item of just 314 million was earmarked for peace missions, which forced the Government to approve in March (with Mariano Rajoy) and in October (with Pedro Sánchez) two contingency funds of more than 785 million (550 million and 235 million respectively) to finance these operations.
Likewise, in April 2019, the Council of Ministers approved a contingency fund of almost 550 million euros to the Ministry of Defense to meet the expenses incurred by the peace missions. Finally, in July last year, the Council of Ministers authorized a contingency fund of almost one billion euros, as well as an extraordinary credit to the Ministry of Defense, to “meet the extraordinary expenses of the Armed Forces caused by the invasion of Ukraine”. For this, it was necessary to overcome the firm opposition of the minority partner of the coalition Government, Unidas Podemos, in the midst of the debate generated within the Executive due to the decision of President Pedro Sánchez to allocate, by 2029, 2% of the GDP to Defense spending.
