European Union governments are considering a wider definition of what is defence investment to allow for more government spending that would not trigger punitive EU action for excessive borrowing under the bloc's fiscal rules, officials said,
Reuters reports.
The push for more leeway on defence expenditures comes with Russia's war in Ukraine about to enter its fourth year and U.S.
President Donald Trump raising pressure for more European military spending well above the NATO target of 2% of GDP.
EU government leaders agreed at a summit on Monday to do more to bolster defences against Russia and other threats by hiking spending and filling gaps in their military capabilities.
A paper prepared by Poland, which holds the rotating EU presidency that sets the agenda for the bloc's work, argues that the current interpretation of defence investment as only military equipment like tanks or planes is too narrow.
"In view of the security challenges, the interpretation of the increase in defence investment should be broad. It should include not only the purchase of military equipment, but also capital support for arms and ammunition factories in order to build defence capabilities," the paper, seen by Reuters, said.
It also mentioned investment in infrastructure used by the army, as well as infrastructure used for both civilian and military purposes such as the construction of shelters in residential buildings or civil defence spending, as categories that should be eligible to be defined as defence investment.
