Improving oversight and accountability of the NATO Defence Planning Process

18 June 2025

Under the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) capability targets have been agreed that provide the rationale for NATO’s likely new 5% military spending target that is set to be accepted at the Hague Summit next week. This process is little known outside of defence ministries and NATO headquarters. It has virtually no parliamentary oversight yet is driving the most consequential shift in European military spending in the last two generations. Improvement of democratic oversight of the NDPP is needed at the national level, the alliance level and by increasing overall transparency within NATO.

To strengthen the role of national parliaments, it is necessary to:

Create specialised, high-security committees
Mandate regular reporting and debates
Enhance parliamentary expertise
Link budgetary approval to NDPP goals
Create standardised NATO-wide accountability frameworks

To enhance the role of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, it is necessary to:

Formalise consultation rights
Increase structured dialogue
Hold joint meetings with national committees
Peer review national oversight

To increase transparency and public engagement, it is necessary to:

Declassifying more information
Adopt an information openness policy in NATO consistent with the access to information laws already in place in the 32 member countries
Publish a public ‘State of the alliance’ report
Be proactive with government communication
Increase civil society engagement
Leverage modern technologies and governance approaches