BRUSSELS — More than half of all EU countries intend to make use of an exemption allowing them to go over budgetary limits in order to boost military spending, the European Council has said.

The European Commission proposed earlier this year that members could use an emergency clause to spend up to 1.5% of their GDP on defense investments over the next four years without breaching rules on public deficits and debt.

The move came after the Trump administration suggested that Europe should pay more to defend itself and amid security concerns over Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Germany and Poland are leading the group of countries that have indicated they want to do so, the EU said in a statement on Wednesday.

Hungary and Slovakia, whose governments are considered to be Moscow-friendly, are notably listed as well.

The other EU member states who have decided to request the activation of the so-called escape clause include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Bulgaria, the European Council said.

"We remain open to further exemption requests," the EU's Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis added.

The clause could allow hundreds of billions of euros to be spent on rearming the continent by 2030.

Although military spending has increased within the EU by 31% since 2021, many member states are keen to increase defense expenditure further.

Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that Europe must act quickly for the sake of its security.

"In view of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent, the rule for our defense now has to be 'whatever it takes,'"' he said in March.

Announcing an EU defense package in March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke plainly about the dangers Europe found itself in.

"We are in an era of rearmament. And Europe is ready to massively boost its defense spending," she said.

"Both to respond to the short-term urgency to act and to support Ukraine but also to address the long-term need to take on much more responsibility for our own European security." — Euronews