MNI BRIEF: EU's Dombrovskis- Escape Clause Details In Weeks
MNI (BRUSSELS) - The European Commission will present a concrete proposal for the use of national escape clauses from the bloc's fiscal rules to allow increased defence spending within the "coming weeks", Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Tuesday.
EU finance ministers will discuss Commission proposals at their next meeting in March and hope at their May meeting to finalise details of any exemption from the rules, which Dombrovskis said would probably need to be in place for "several years".
Officials have already started technical level talks, and details would set out "how exactly the escape clauses are going to be applied, what kind of expenditure will be exempt and what are the limits" to any exemptions, he said. (See MNI: EU Eyes National Escape Clauses To Boost Defence Spending)
Poland - holder of the EU's rotating presidency - favours an alternative approach to national escape clauses, a 'code of conduct' which would codify factors to be taken into account when determining whether a country is in breach of fiscal rules.