Number: RL30150
Title: NATO Common Funds Burdensharing: Background and Current Issues
Authors: Carl W. Ek, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: Member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) contribute to the activities of the alliance in several ways, the chief of which is through the deployment of their own armed forces, funded by their national budgets. Certain commonly conducted activities, however, are paid for out of three NATO-run budgets. These three accounts - the civil budget, the military budget, and the security investment program - are funded by individual contributions from the member states. The countries' percentage shares of the common funds are negotiated among the members, and are based upon per capita GDP and several other factors. The aggregate U.S. share, which has fallen over the past three decades, was 25.8% in 2005. Ten central and eastern European nations were admitted into the alliance in 1999 and 2004, and several other countries would also like to join. As NATO expands, it has incurred certain additional costs to accommodate the new members. These costs are being shared by all, including the new countries. In 2005, members of the alliance adopted new burdensharing arrangements; the U.S. level, however, was limited to its current share. Additional changes in the cost share formulas are under review. The second session of the 110th Congress will likely review U.S. contributions to the NATO budgets in the context of the Defense and State Departments' appropriations.
Pages: 8
Date: January 24, 2008