Several diplomats signaled that Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands and, to a lesser extent, Denmark have little appetite to reopen the EU’s spending rules.
However, other natural members of that group, including Finland and Latvia, which both border Russia, back Germany’s push.
Highly indebted Italy and France — traditionally Germany’s big rivals on the question of more relaxed spending — are also siding with Berlin, eyeing to get even more concessions.
Changing the rules would allow Berlin’s incoming coalition, likely comprising Merz’s conservatives and Scholz’s center-left, to carry out a planned massive defense spending program without falling foul of the EU’s spending police.
“We all have to meet NATO’s 2 percent [of GDP for defense] target, Scholz said. “Germany will prepare itself to ensure the financial background for this.”
Before the start of the summit, the EU’s ambassadors agreed on a vaguely worded language precisely to keep on board fiscally conservative states from Northern Europe.
