European Commission president announces plan at Munich Security Conference.
European Union countries will be able to significantly increase their spending on defense under a plan announced on Friday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, von der Leyen said she wanted to trigger an emergency clause that would allow governments greater leeway so that military expenditure would not show up in the tightly controlled budget deficit limits.
“I will propose to activate the escape clause for defense investments, » she said. « This will allow member states to substantially increase their defense expenditure.”
The idea would allow governments to increase their defense spending substantially without violating the EU’s budget rules.
Highly indebted European countries, such as Italy and Greece, have supported this option, arguing that it would allow them to significantly increase defense spending without making other budget cuts.
Von der Leyen previously floated this option during a closed-door meeting with national leaders last week, as POLITICO first reported.
This article is being updated.
