The European Union’s plan to boost defense spending across the bloc is facing challenges in Italy, where there are significant concerns about the sustainability of public debt. At a special EU summit in Brussels in March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a plan to “rearm Europe,” which would mobilise 800 billion euros to create a secure Europe. However, the proposal to provide a 150 billion euro loan to member states for defense investment has been opposed by countries such as France, Italy and Spain.
Currently, Italy’s public debt is around 3 billion euros, which is 135 percent of gross domestic product. As a result, experts in Italy have warned that the plan to rearm Europe will increase concerns about public debt.
“The Italian government supports strengthening European defense, but it does not fully agree with the approach proposed by the ‘Rearmament of Europe’ plan, which focuses on increasing the national defense of EU member states and allowing them to take out loans, instead of strengthening European defense as a whole. Italy plans to repay the debt over the coming years. So if the budget has to be adjusted to increase loans for defense spending, this could jeopardize the sustainability of the debt,” said Valentina Meliciani.
According to a statement published by the European Commission, the plan for rearmament of Europe consists of 5 key measures aimed at strengthening the bloc’s defense capabilities and increasing military support for Ukraine.