EU finance ministers have approved a four-year easing of budget rules for Spain to allow higher defence spending under the bloc’s fiscal framework.
The Council of the EU announced on Friday it had activated the “national escape clause” for Spain under the Stability and Growth Pact — the EU’s rulebook that limits government deficits and debt.
The flexibility applies for up to four years and is capped at 1.5% of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Spain must still follow the EU’s budgetary rules for all other spending and remain committed to the revised economic governance framework despite the clause being triggered.
17 other countries also granted the same option
Requests to activate the national escape clause were also approved for 17 other EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia, according to the Council.
The national escape clause allows a member state to temporarily deviate from budget requirements in response to exceptional circumstances outside its control, while ensuring its public debt remains sustainable, the Council emphasised.
It said the EU has activated the clause in response to heightened geopolitical tensions that it described as posing a significant threat to European security, alongside what it called a growing need to increase Europe’s defence industry capacity.
