The European Commission will grant EU Member States more budgetary flexibility to increase their defence investments, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday at the Munich Security Conference.
She also revealed plans to accelerate Ukraine's EU membership negotiations.
Von der Leyen will propose activating "the derogation clause for defence investments" within EU budgetary rules.
"This will allow Member States to significantly increase their defence spending. Of course, we will do this in a controlled and conditional manner," the German official stated.
Providing additional national budgetary flexibility is one approach the EU is considering to boost defence investments.
Pressure has mounted since the United States made it clear that Europe must do more to defend its continent and offer security assurances to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
A few months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine was granted candidate status, providing a clear path to EU membership.
Von der Leyen announced in Munich her intention to accelerate the accession process once again. "We have already made significant progress, but the time has come once more to move mountains."
