The Defense Commission is a tool used by politics to ensure broad political consensus on defense expenditures, to ensure that decisions hold over time.
Representatives from the political parties in the parliament and the government consult through the Defense Commission. The commission includes members from eight parliamentary parties, experts and specialists from the Government Offices and other authorities, as well as a secretariat.
According to Patrik Oksanen, among others a Senior Fellow at the think tank Frivärld, 2.6 percent according to NATO's calculation model corresponds to about 2.2 percent according to the Swedish way of calculating. The difference lies, among other things, in expenditures for pensions, the Ministry of Defense's budget, and VAT.

