Tensions will come to a head during the March 6 emergency meeting of EU leaders, where von der Leyen said she will present a “comprehensive plan to re-arm Europe.”
A draft document prepared by EU governments for that meeting, seen by POLITICO, urges the Commission to give countries more fiscal room “without delay” and to propose “additional funding sources” for defense “at EU level,” including making it possible to redirect funds for regional development. They call for the EU executive to “present swiftly relevant proposals.”
According to that paper, the Commission will offer different “funding options” in a letter to EU leaders.
The Trump effect
This week von der Leyen will outline how she intends to loosen the EU’s spending rules to allow countries to effectively exempt military spending from Brussels’ tightly controlled budget deficit limits, several officials said, as the bloc reels from mounting fears that Trump will abandon Ukraine and Europe.
EU countries, however, are divided over the fine print of the “national escape clause” — an emergency mechanism designed to ease pressure on countries facing a sudden emergency.
Von der Leyen said that this mechanism will be applied “in a controlled and conditional way” to prevent rampant spending from highly indebted countries.