Amman, April 12 (Petra) – European Union finance ministers began discussions on Saturday over the creation of a joint defense fund that would purchase and own military equipment, charging member states a fee for its use. The initiative is aimed at increasing defense spending without placing additional debt burdens on national budgets.

According to Euronews, several EU countries have expressed preliminary support for the fund, which could be relatively straightforward to set up by following the model of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) the eurozone’s bailout fund.

The EU aims to bolster military expenditure by €800 billion (approximately $876 billion) over the next four years. This goal is to be achieved by relaxing fiscal rules on defense-related investments and enabling joint borrowing for major defense projects.

The proposal, known as the European Defense Mechanism, was outlined by the Bruegel think tank in a research paper presented for ministerial discussions. It addresses concerns about how heavily indebted member states could afford the rising costs of advanced military equipment.

//Petra// AF

12/04/2025 21:12:37