The European Commission plans to give EU countries more budgetary leeway for investments in green energy infrastructure in a bid to ease the economic pressure from rising fuel costs.
Under the plans presented on Wednesday, capitals are to be allowed to take on additional debt to finance green energy projects without risking disciplinary measures for exceeding EU debt and deficit limits.
EU countries which use the euro as a common currency are obliged to keep their annual deficits below 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) and debt below 60% of GDP.
The proposal aims to reduce the European Union's dependence on imported fossil fuels and to make the bloc more resilient in the long term.
The EU's economy was weakened by soaring fuel prices after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and again this year because of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
A similar rule is already in place for defence expenditure, which allows capitals to spend up to an additional 1.5% of GDP over a four-year period.
Under the new plans, up to 0.6 percentage points of the 1.5% may be used for green energy investments, like the expansion of renewable power production of energy efficiency initiatives, until the end of 2028, but not more than 0.3 percentage points annually.
Italy and Spain have been calling for an exemption from the EU's strict debt and deficit rules to channel more public money into tackling high energy prices.
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had argued for a special provision similar to that for defence spending. Madrid has been calling for similar measures.
