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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the “Rearmament of Europe” plan during a press conference, which will allow mobilizing about 800 billion euros for European defense spending and assistance to Ukraine.
“We live in an era of rearmament. And Europe is ready to significantly increase defense spending both to respond to the short-term need to act, to support Ukraine, and to address the long-term need to take more responsibility for our own European security,” the head of the European Commission said.
She also added that she had sent the plan to the leaders of the countries ahead of the European Council meeting on March 6. The plan itself proposes to use all the financial levers at Europe's disposal to help member states quickly increase spending on defense capabilities now and throughout this decade.
"There are five points in this plan. The first part of this plan, 'Rearm Europe', is to unlock the use of public funding for defence at the national level... We will propose to activate the national opt-out clause from the Stability and Growth Pact. This will allow Member States to significantly increase their defence spending without triggering the excessive deficit procedure," the head of the European Commission said.
She noted that increasing EU member states' defense investment by 1,5% of GDP would create fiscal space of around €650 billion over four years. Another instrument would provide an additional €150 billion in loans to member states for defense investment.
“It is about spending better and spending together. And we are talking about pan-European areas of opportunity, such as air and missile defence, artillery systems, missiles and ammunition, drones and counter-drone systems, but also to meet other needs, for example from cyber to military mobility. This will help member states to pool demand and buy together. And of course, with this equipment, member states can significantly strengthen their support to Ukraine,” von der Leyen added.
