The European Union is getting closer to agreeing on the provisions of the updated budget rules that allow for increased military spending after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is reported by Reuters.
EU budget rules related to the use of the euro currency in 20 countries limit government borrowing. They set the maximum level of budget deficit at 3% of GDP and state debt at 60% of GDP. The European Commission is to launch sanctions against countries that violate these restrictions.
At the moment, only nine EU members are reaching NATO's defense spending target of 2% of national output, while only four countries - Finland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia - will reach this level only by 2023. France, Germany and Italy, the largest EU economies, are below the NATO threshold.
