FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Tuesday a new common instrument to increase military spending across the European Union.
She suggested that EU countries should be allowed to take out up to 150 billion euros in loans as part of a five-part plan to increase defense spending.
Speaking to reporters, she presented the "Rearm Europe" plan to unlock up to 800 billion euros in additional defense spending over the coming years. She outlined the ideas in a letter to national governments on Tuesday morning.
Von der Leyen's announcement came hours after Trump decided to halt all military aid to Ukraine following his disastrous Oval Office meeting on Friday with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The bloc's 27 ambassadors will react to von der Leyen's ideas during a meeting on Tuesday that will pave the way for a high-level meeting of EU leaders on Thursday.
"Europe is ready to massively increase its defense spending, both to respond to the short-term urgency to act and support Ukraine, but also to address the long-term need to take more responsibility for our European security," von der Leyen said.
EU governments are looking for ways to significantly increase their defense spending as US President Donald Trump disengages from Ukraine and Europe.
The Commission wants to make it easier for countries to increase defense spending without falling foul of EU rules that limit national debt and deficits.
To create more fiscal space, von der Leyen said she would trigger the EU's national escape clause, under which military spending would not count towards the Union's penalty mechanism for countries that breach EU spending limits.
This clause can be activated when "exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the Member State lead to a major impact on the public finances" of a country, according to EU spending rules that were revamped last year.
Von der Leyen, however, did not set out the specific conditions she will impose to prevent unbridled spending by highly indebted countries.
As part of the plan, it also offered cheap defense loans to EU countries in a further effort to mobilize funding.
The new instrument will be 150 billion euros and will fund defense capabilities across the EU, including artillery, missiles, ammunition, drones and anti-drone systems. The money will also free up space for EU countries to send weapons to Ukraine.
"With this equipment, member states can massively increase their support for Ukraine," von der Leyen added.
Some officials indicated that it will be partly financed with 93 billion euros of unsolicited loans that have been made under the EU's post-Covid recovery fund, which was created in 2021 to boost green and digital investments.
Commission officials are confident that unused money can be reused with the support of a simple majority of EU countries, as opposed to unanimity.
Highly indebted countries such as France, Italy and Spain instead favored joint EU debt for defense, but this remains controversial in Germany and some Northern European countries.
The latest draft conclusions for Thursday's EU leaders' summit stress that the bank's practices "with regard to essential defence projects" should change and that the volume of available financing should be increased.
Lini një Përgjigje