Is Europe’s rearmament a political issue? A comparison of French and German conceptualizations on rearmament

Against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has exposed shortages in ammunition and capabilities and brought defence back to the heart of the European agenda, this article has examined how two leading EU military powers, France and Germany, have redefined rearmament since February 2022, and whether this process has become politicised. It has assessed whether the European rearmament process has altered the way in which the French and German governments conceptualise rearmament, and whether this reconceptualisation has generated political contestation within each polity. Using discursive institutionalism, the article has analysed governmental discourses on rearmament and their reception within the French and German polities, relying on a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative data analysis. By focusing the analysis on two key aspects of rearmament (defence spending and the military-industrial dimension), the article demonstrates that both states primarily reconceptualise Europe’s rearmament at the state level, leading to a quiet reconceptualisation in the French case, whereas Germany seems to undergo a louder reconceptualisation of rearmament.