The EU countries take positions in the debate to delineate the strategy to boost their defense financing. The Ministers of Economy and Finance have begun to fix their positions on the possibility of allocating new instruments to defense spending. At the moment, with Germany and the Netherlands contrary to a new emission of Eurobones, but with Berlin advocating greater flexibility within the fiscal rules. While others like France and Spain align with common instruments in the form of transfers or joint debt.
“We are very skeptical with the Eurobones per se“has indicated upon arrival at the Eurogroup the Minister of Finance German Jörg Kukies, who has been contrary to raising community debt when it is an expense that can come from national items. “When there are common projects, we also support European financing but we are not convinced about the idea of raising the debt and distributing it in 27 purchase projects that distance each other, especially in the field of defense.”
But Germany is not alone. Aligned with Berlin among the member states with frugal positions, Hague is contrary to using Eurobons as an instrument to rearm Europe and improve its strategic autonomy in the military field. “The Netherlands are not in favor of Eurobons. More debt weakens our economies“; the head of Economy, Eelco Heinen.
For now, Spain would be interested in the measures that Brussels has in mind to boost defense expenditure except in one. The Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, has shown interest in the flexibility of fiscal rules and 150,000 million fund on loans. However, he asks for more. In line with the message of the EU leaders last week, it asks for more European resources, specifically transfers, beyond loans.
France also advocates a similar position. Although it does not speak directly of transfers such as Madrid does not explicitly advocate Eurobons, it would be in favor of a new debt broadcast joint to deal with the increase in defense spending. However, the debate is still in its beginnings and many fringes remain.
What Berlin asks, since last week, it is more flexibility in fiscal rules so that countries can allocate defense “What they consider appropriate”, In the words of the outgoing German chancellor, Olaf Scholz. He also claimed a long -term perspective, instead of the 4 years that Brussels of deactivation of the fiscal rules at the national level, so that the defense expenditure does not compute when calculating the deficit.
The proposal does not end up convincing the Falcon countries, neither the Netherlands nor Sweden consider that it should go beyond that period of four years nor that the flexibility of the fiscal rules exceeds the national parameters. The head of EconomDutch would accept a “flexibility that is limited in time and with the focus of the sustainability of the debt on the table “, since it opposes that countries spend more than they have.
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