The European Commission is giving fifteen member states permission to let their budget deficit increase so that they can spend more on defense. A sixteenth application for this scheme, from Germany, is still under consideration.
In the case of those other fifteen countries, the application for the so-called national escape clause has been approved, a spokesperson for the European Commission told ANP. With this clause, extra spending on defense is not included in the budget deficit and government debt.
These countries include Belgium, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Hungary and Portugal. The Commission wants the 27 member states to jointly invest an additional 650 billion euros in defense over the next four years.
The Dutch caretaker cabinet does not intend to submit such a request, it emerged in early May. It wants to absorb the money for extra defense spending within the current budget.
The Dutch budget was rejected by the European Commission at the end of last year. The Netherlands must be more economical, the Commission believes, otherwise the budget deficit threatens to become too large. According to the rules, the budget deficit – government spending minus income – may not be greater than 3 percent.