Half of the EU Member States is looking for an exemption from budget rules to invest in defense

About half of EU Member States decided to take advantage of the exception of budget rules to increase investment in defense, with the European Commission (EK) that there are twelve and the EU Council 16.

Two bodies have announced a statement with a different number of Member States who have activated the National Deviatory Clause from the budget rules.

According to a statement from the Council, these are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.

There are no Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania and Czech Republic on the EC list, which are otherwise on the Council list.

The EC announced on Wednesday that the requirements of members will be declared until June 4, when it plans to publish a spring pack of European semester.

Last month, the Union’s executive body proposed the possibility of deviating from budgets to encourage greater investment in defense.

According to fiscal rules, the members’ budget deficits should not exceed three percent of GDP and a public debt 60 percent of GDP. The EC has suggested that in the next four years of Member States, they can further spend 1.5 percent of GDP defense a year without danger of initiating a procedure for breach of rules.

According to EC estimates, when all members increase the investment for defense by 1.5 percent of GDP per year, an amount of EUR 650 billion would be reached. In addition, the Commission also proposed a credit program of 150 billion euros for joint defense projects.