The president of the European Commission (CE), announced this last night to community leaders who will study the possibility of more flexible the rules of the European Union (EU) on the control of the deficit and public debt to allow an increase in spending on spending defense.
“If you look at national budgets, they are constrained. They have been constrained so far through the new rules of the stability and growth pact. For extraordinary times, it is possible to have extraordinary measures also in the stability and growth pact, and I think we live in extraordinary times, “said Von der Leyen at the end of an informal summit of EU leaders.
The leaders of the twenty -seven approached what defense capabilities more urgently urges, how to finance them and develop them together and how to enhance international associations in that area ,.
The German policy stood out in a press conference that the commission will deepen the use of many more flexibilities “and” possible options “in the stability and growth pact for investment in defense.
“This gives much fiscal space or maneuvering margin to Member States to increase their defense expenditure nationwide,” he said.
The German Foreign Minister, Olaf Scholz, maintained that the EU does not plan the joint indebtedness, but provided flexibility for the financing of the states. “And that is the task of the near future. It is a great task, ”he said.
On the other hand, the Portuguese Prime Minister, the conservative Luís Montenegro, defended a model “similar to the one that was on the table during the pandemic crisis and with the subsequent economic recovery process”, in reference to the recovery and recovery plans Resilience, but applied to the defense area.
Von der Leyen also confirmed that the loan practices, as requested by up to 19 member states through a joint letter.
“What he needs are emblematic projects on the Bei table,” said Von der Leyen, who also defended “more private financing”, for which he saw necessary “to dialogue with the private banking sector to modernize his loan practices.”
Currently, many pension funds and private banks argue that sustainable finance rules make investments in defense difficult.
The president of the EC also alluded to the possibility of strengthening coordinated public tenders, which guarantees interoperability and cost reduction.
Another point that defended was to simplify community legislation on acquisitions, and foster innovation in defense, also through greater cooperation with the Ukrainian defense industry.
“If we spend billions of taxpayers money, we need the return of investment in the form of knowledge and good jobs here in Europe,” concluded Von der Leyen, about the debate of the leaders.
The deliberations today of the leaders will contribute to the White Paper – non -legislative document – that the Commission expects to present in March on the EU defense. Then, “there will be a basis for Member States to make the necessary decisions at (their June Summit.”
“Strengthening our defense cooperation also means deepening our association with NATO and with the European partners not belonging to the EU,” concluded von der Leyen on a meeting that also had the participation of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance ,, and the British prime minister ,.
The president of the European Council, António Costa, highlighted the interest of countries in areas such as aerial and missile defense, ammunition, military mobility or strategic enablers, and their effort to “produce more of the capabilities we need and do it faster” .
The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, whose country presides over this semester the EU Council, highlighted the support of its European partners to the eastern shield that Poland wants to develop with common financing.
“We have talked about how it could be financed and, obviously, everything has not been resolved, but the common points are much more important than differences,” he said.
