EU ministers positive on joint European defence fund

The fund, called the European Defence Mechanism, would be a way of addressing concerns of highly-indebted countries, because the debt incurred to pay for the equipment would be on the EDM's books, rather than on national accounts.

"Most ministers were interested in the Bruegel paper," said Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski, who chaired the talks.

Some countries such as France, Germany and Belgium said, however, that the EU should first look at existing instruments, like the European Investment Bank, the European Defence Fund and the ReArm Europe plan before new instruments are created.

Under the ReArm Europe plan, the EU is looking to boost military spending by 800 billion euros ($876 billion) over the next four years, via loosening fiscal rules on defence investment and joint borrowing for large defence projects against the EU budget.