European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced new measures to help EU member states increase their defense spending.
She made this announcement during her speech at the Munich Security Conference. Von der Leyen noted that after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU countries significantly increased their defense budgets.
However, she is confident that the European Union will need to further raise these expenditures. To achieve this, she plans to propose activating a special provision that would exempt defense investments from taxation under EU tax rules.
According to von der Leyen, this measure will be implemented in a “controlled and justified manner.” Additionally, in a private conversation, von der Leyen suggested invoking a state of emergency provision to allow countries to further boost defense spending.
Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias emphasized that the EU must abandon strict fiscal constraints on defense spending for its member states.
