Germany argues for limits to EU defence spending exemption

German Finance Minister Jörg Kukies on Monday argued that countries such as Italy, Spain and Belgium should not be able to benefit from special exemptions regarding EU debt limits in order to invest more in defence.

Kukies said during a meeting of the Eurogroup in Brussels that in Germany’s view, only countries that spend at least 2% of their economic output on defence should be eligible.

Countries such as Italy, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg were far from this target, with defence spending of less than 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at the Munich Security Conference last week that she planned to enable higher defence spending by activating an exemption to the bloc’s debt rules.

According to dpa sources, this would allow a deviation from EU debt rules if there are exceptional circumstances that are beyond the control of the member states and have a significant impact on public finances.

In this case, the special circumstances would be the Russian war against Ukraine.

Kukies argued that Germany and other EU countries can achieve defence spending of 2% of GDP or more even without special rules.

Therefore, changes to the debt rules could only be accepted if they were intended for new commitments, he said.

According to estimates by the European Commission, additional defence investments of around €500 billion ($524 billion) will be required over the next 10 years.

German Finance Minister Jörg Kukies on Monday argued that countries such as Italy, Spain and Belgium should not be able to benefit from special exemptions regarding EU debt limits in order to invest more in defence.

Kukies said during a meeting of the Eurogroup in Brussels that in Germany’s view, only countries that spend at least 2% of their economic output on defence should be eligible.

Countries such as Italy, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg were far from this target, with defence spending of less than 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced at the Munich Security Conference last week that she planned to enable higher defence spending by activating an exemption to the bloc’s debt rules.

According to dpa sources, this would allow a deviation from EU debt rules if there are exceptional circumstances that are beyond the control of the member states and have a significant impact on public finances.

In this case, the special circumstances would be the Russian war against Ukraine.

Kukies argued that Germany and other EU countries can achieve defence spending of 2% of GDP or more even without special rules.

Therefore, changes to the debt rules could only be accepted if they were intended for new commitments, he said.

According to estimates by the European Commission, additional defence investments of around €500 billion ($524 billion) will be required over the next 10 years.