Europe’s decision to increase defensive costs After years it is a right choice, the European Union finance ministers say (EU), who meet in Brussels today.
“I believe we are facing a European awakening both in terms of security and financial position,” Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski told Bloomberg. “We know that we need to take more responsibility for our safety we need to increase defense spending, but we must also spend wisely.” The head of Europe’s financial services are investigating ways of progressing in terms of defense readiness of the bloc (EU), as tensions with the US on expenditure and the increasing threat of Russia are pushing to accelerate their military development.
Discussions include a new pan -European media, as fiscal -resulted Member States are looking for ideas after years of subcutaneous.
The possibility of a new European Fund will be added to the new € 150 billion lending medium in the rosary to strengthen Europe’s defense industrial capacity in certain strategic sectors in collaboration with some of its closest partners, including Ukraine.
“We are completely ready to support European defense initiatives,” German Finance Minister Yerk Kukies said. “But we have repeatedly said that it is not enough to say in an abstract manner that we will make European funding, as we need to know exactly what we are funding.”he added.
Speaking to reporters before a meeting with his European counterparts, he stressed that “The first step must be a specific military cooperation, common defense initiatives for Europe – when they are ready, you can start thinking about common funding.”
The European Commission (Commission), the EU executive arm, is also ready to “give” up to 1.5% of GDP of national defense spending under its financial supervision, in a move that could mobilize up to 600 billion euros ($ 682 billion).
Some EU capitals want to discuss additional tools, as they believe that more permanent mechanisms will be needed to supply and maintain the European re -equipment race in the medium term and in the long run. The EU’s shift to defense began after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accelerated after the spread of doubts between European allies on Trump’s commitment to NATO’s mutual defense clause.
However, some Member States prefer to wait and implement the numerous initiatives discussed so far by the Commission before discussing new initiatives, diplomats said. The most permanent means, such as the European Defense Mechanism, are still particularly divisive, they said.
This new mechanism would design and fund common supplies for European countries, as proposed by Bruegel, a Brussels -based thought tank for the discussion of ministers this weekend (12 – 13.4.2025). “I think it’s good to discuss funding for defense right now, we do it together,” Sweden Elisabeth Svansson said. “The Commission has made various proposals on the table, which we support.”