The European Commission aims to provide Member States with more budgetary flexibility for defence spending, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday evening after an informal European summit on defence in Brussels.

    Von der Leyen said she was willing to explore and use all the flexibility within the Stability and Growth Pact – the European rules on national budget oversight – to enable a significant increase in defence spending.

    In extraordinary times, it must be possible to take extraordinary measures, she stressed.

    There is a broad consensus among European heads of state and government that, after years of low investment, significantly more money needs to be injected into defence. However, national budgets are limited, and the Stability and Growth Pact mandates Member States to keep their budget deficits below 3%.

    Von der Leyen also wants the European Investment Bank (EIB), which currently only invests in projects that serve both civil and military purposes, to expand its activities.

    According to the Commission President, the EU’s investment bank is willing to do so and has already set aside funds for this purpose. She hopes this will also encourage private banks to lend more to defence projects.