Ursula von der Leyen will mark the 100 days of her second term next Tuesday, a period in which the Commission has significantly accelerated its pace of action, focusing on green transition, competitiveness, and Defense. Particularly, Defense. In this regard, she has once again increased pressure on Spain by already pointing to a spending that exceeds even 3%.
"The NATO Secretary-General talks about beyond 3%," stated the Commission President this Sunday, adding that "some countries have already done their homework, but others have not," pointing to states like Spain. Von der Leyen's intervention comes just three days after the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, also promised in Brussels to speed up military spending to achieve the 2% target as soon as possible, previously set for 2029. "The answer is yes," he assured. But that promise is by no means sufficient for the head of the European Commission.
Von der Leyen has recalled her plan Rearming Europe, endowed with up to 800 billion euros, offering countries up to 600 billion euros of fiscal space to increase military spending. This will be done through the activation of national escape clauses, allowing countries to run a deficit of up to 1.5% of GDP without being penalized by the Commission.
This action indeed gives member states significant room for maneuver. However, it comes at the expense of their budgets, through national spending, putting the Spanish government in a very complex situation. Because a part of it, the Sumar party, refuses to increase Defense spending, and many partners completely reject this possibility.
Next week, Sánchez will convene all political forces, except Vox, to present his Defense plans. He will meet again, 16 months later, with the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who could hold the key to advancing higher Defense spending. An option already considered by the government, as reported by EL MUNDO yesterday, is to increase spending through decrees without the need for new budgets, as was done during the pandemic.
This could enable an agreement with the PP without the popular party supporting new public accounts. However, Genova has already shown reluctance to reach any agreement, and Feijóo harshly criticized, also on Thursday and also from Brussels, that Sánchez has not provided any explanation on Defense in Congress.
Back to Von der Leyen's press conference, the Commission President has announced that she will convene, for the first time, commissioners' meetings to assess security and receive updates on Defense.
"Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures, and this also applies to the Commission. To deal with the challenging path ahead, we must shift to a preparedness mindset. Therefore, in the coming weeks, I will convene the first Security College. Only with a very clear and in-depth understanding of the threats, including hybrid ones, can we effectively contribute to collective security," she stated. It is not a war committee, of course, but it is very significant regarding the current situation in Europe and the EU's priorities. "Sovereignty and secure commitments are being questioned. Everything is more transactional, so the pace of change has accelerated, and the necessary action must be decisive," emphasized the German senior official.
Von der Leyen has also expressed willingness to explore new financing avenues for Defense spending, as requested by member countries in the conclusions of the extraordinary summit on Thursday. "Nothing is off the table. I am open to whatever is necessary," she said, leaving the door open to possible Eurobonds financed directly by Brussels. This is something that Spain, for example, has requested.
However, the Commission President wanted to highlight the measures already taken, including the European mechanism composed of 150 billion euros in loans. This is the other major measure of the aforementioned Rearming Europe plan, and according to sources in Brussels, the details of it sparked a confrontation between Germany and France at the last presidents' meeting.
The outgoing Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, argued that these funds could be used to purchase military equipment from non-EU countries, while French President Emmanuel Macron responded that the funds should remain within EU territory and companies. However, this is currently somewhat challenging as the capacity of the European defense industry is limited. Therefore, one of the Commission's objectives is precisely for the European Defense industry to develop and, at the same time, be a source of competitiveness and economic growth.