The European Union will present a plan this week that provides for the large-scale joint issuance of bonds to finance defense and energy spending in the 27 member states, given that the EU bloc is facing the consequences of the war in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.

According to officials close to the case, the proposals could be presented after the emergency summit of European leaders to be held on March 10-11 in Versailles, France. Officials are still working on details of how the bond sales will unfold and how much money they plan to raise.

This extraordinary measure comes a year after the EU launched a € 1.8 trillion emergency package backed by joint bond issuance to fund Member States’ efforts to respond to the pandemic. The community bloc now faces high funding needs as it needs to reform its military and energy infrastructure after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Agerpres.

“We need to find new tools to respond to the new challenges that this crisis has brought to our attention,” European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday evening. He added that in his view, European leaders would provide political guidance on future measures at the Versailles summit.

According to Bloomberg sources, the plan would involve the European Commission, the EU executive, which will issue bonds and channel the funds raised to member states in the form of loans to finance their defense and energy spending.

One option is a structure similar to the SURE program ( the European temporary support tool for mitigating unemployment risks in an emergency) – a Bloomberg official was quoted as saying, referring to a scheme that was used to fund pandemic employment support initiatives.