The "Typhoon" fighter jet jointly developed by multiple European countries.

On March 6, the European Union held a special summit in Brussels, at which the special financing plan for "rearming Europe" proposed by the President of the European Commission, von der Leyen, was adopted. The total amount of the plan reached 800 billion euros (about 860 billion dollars), with the goal of building "a safe and resilient Europe". von der Leyen said that the "rearming Europe" plan would break through the restrictions of the existing defense system through five measures.

Fiscal loosening frees up military spending space. The EU will launch for the first time an exemption procedure from the Stability and Growth Pact, allowing member states to significantly increase defense spending without triggering excessive deficit procedures. This measure mainly targets the difficulties faced by countries such as Germany in the process of expanding their military due to the "debt brake" rule. It is expected that in the next four years, this measure will free up 650 billion euros of fiscal space for member states and create conditions for increasing military spending.

Special loans promote joint procurement. The EU plans to establish a "Pan European Capability Area" loan tool, providing approximately 150 billion euros in loans to assist member states in joint procurement of air defense systems, artillery, drones and other equipment. This move aims to change the situation of member states' autonomy in equipment system construction, promote standardized equipment production and industrial chain integration.

Adjusting budget structure and strengthening investment. The EU allows member states to use existing budget channels such as "cohesion policy funds" to increase investment in defense research and development and the military industry, in order to bridge the long-standing policy gap between "Economic Europe" and "Military Europe".

Accelerate the introduction of private capital. The EU will reform financial market rules to guide long-term investment capital such as pension funds and insurance funds to flow into the defense sector, alleviating the problem of insufficient public funding.

European Investment Bank financing intervention. The European Investment Bank will break the traditional restriction of not funding lethal weapons and provide credit support for military infrastructure construction and key technology research and development.

As the largest defense investment plan in Europe after the Cold War, the "rearming Europe" plan reflects the concentrated outbreak of security anxiety among European countries in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At the same time, it is also a landmark measure for the EU to try to reduce its military dependence on the United States and reshape its global strategic position. The implementation of the plan may cause a chain reaction. On the one hand, the substantial increase in the EU's defense spending may lead to the overlap of its functions with NATO, making the military cooperation model between the United States and Europe change from the traditional "master follower relationship" to "competitive complementarity". On the other hand, the relevant provisions of the plan, such as "producing weapons for Ukraine", may further intensify the contradictions between European countries and Russia, and exacerbate regional tensions.

At the same time, the plan faces many challenges in its implementation, including the inherent lack of EU strategic autonomy and political resistance to industrial integration. In terms of finance, Southern European countries are concerned that the EU's relaxation of deficit control may trigger a sovereign debt crisis; Eastern European countries criticize the € 150 billion loan as requiring all member states to guarantee it, believing that this is allowing countries with relatively weaker fiscal strength to share the cost of the military industry in wealthy countries. In the future, whether the "Re arm Europe" plan can achieve its expected goals remains to be further observed.