Fidanza Hails Von Der Leyen’s Plan to Safeguard Defence Spending

Brussels: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s rearm plan provides concrete tools to boost European investments in defence and exempts military expenditure from EU limits on government spending in a measure long requested by Italy, Carlo Fidanza, the head of the MEPs from Premier Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, said on Tuesday.

According to Ansa News Agency, the plan, named ‘ReArm Europe’, has been praised by Fidanza for moving from merely announcing principles to providing tangible tools for strengthening European defence investments. Fidanza emphasized the significance of the plan, especially for Italy, highlighting the activation of the stability pact’s national safeguard clause. This clause will allow Italy to deduct rising investments from the deficit-to-GDP parameters, a measure long sought by Italy, its government, and the Brothers of Italy party, and which has now been embraced.

The European Commission’s proposal as part of the plan suggests that defence spending should be exempt from the limits imposed by EU rules on government debt. This exemption is seen as a crucial step for member states looking to increase defence investments without breaching EU fiscal rules.

Fidanza’s note also mentioned that the common investments and other measures proposed by the plan will undergo evaluation once they are formally presented.