12 Member States request activation of the national escape clause in a coordinated move to boost defence spending

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

To date, 12 Member States have submitted a request in writing to the Commission to activate the national escape clause under the Stability and Growth Pact, as part of the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 package presented in March 2025. These are Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia. Additional requests are expected to be submitted at a later stage as several Member States have expressed their interest to take advantage of this clause. 

The activation of the national escape clause provides Member States with additional budgetary space to increase defence spending, while remaining within the EU fiscal rules, in line with the paper published by the Commission as part of the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 package.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its threat to European security constitute exceptional circumstances, placing significant pressure on Member States’ public finances due to the urgent need to build up their defence capabilities.

In response, the EU has put forward an ambitious defence package, offering financial levers to boost investment in the Union’s defence sector, including via the national escape clause. The activation of the clause will give these Member States the possibility to deviate from their endorsed net expenditure paths or their corrective path under the Excessive Deficit Procedure. Such flexibility is foreseen in the event of exceptional circumstances beyond the Member State’s control, where these have a significant impact on its public finances, as is currently the case.

To ensure fiscal sustainability over the medium term, the deviation from the recommended net expenditure path will be limited to a maximum of 1.5% of GDP of additional defence expenditure for each year of activation up to 2028.

The Commission will now assess the requests submitted by the Member States with a view to putting forward recommendations to the Council to activate the national escape clause as part of the upcoming Spring 2025 European Semester Package. The Council will then have one month to decide on the matter. 

Background 

Together, the activation of the national escape clause for defence purposes and the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan form the backbone of the ReArm Europe Plan / Readiness 2030, presented on 19 March. This is an ambitious defence package providing financial levers to EU Member States to drive a surge in investment in defence capabilities. Under the SAFE loan, the Commission will raise up to €150 billion on the capital markets, drawing on its well-established unified funding approach. The use of the SAFE loan can be complemented by the activation of the national escape clause, enabling Member States to substantially and rapidly scale up their investments in European defence.

While under the national escape clause Member States will benefit from additional space for defence spending, the EU fiscal rules continue to apply in full. Any deviations from the endorsed net expenditure paths, other than those specified, will be monitored according to the Regulation (EU) 2024/1263 for the entire period of activation.