SAFE, €14.9 billion loan for Italy to boost defence

Brussels – Security and defence, €14.9 billion of EU loans are coming to Italy to strengthen the national defence industry and thus the common response to security challenges. The European Commission presents its proposal for the allocation of the €150 billion under the special SAFE fund for defence. A total of 19 governments, including the one led by Giorgia Meloni, expressed interest in utilising the resources made available by the EU executive, which then redistributed the funds among all participants. 

These are provisional figures, for the final release of which we await the detailed plans that the states must present by November. For Italy, however, this is the fifth largest contribution, after those offered to Poland (43.7 billion), Romania (16.8 billion), France and Hungary (16.2 billion each). To obtain the funds, all governments will have to describe the use of the possible financial assistance, granted at “competitive” rates, the EU executive emphasises, but still to be reimbursed over a ten-year period.

The EU Commission finances two categories of interventions through the SAFE fund: the first category includes production and investment in ammunition and missiles, artillery systems, land combat capabilities and related support systems (including soldier equipment and infantry weapons), small drones (NATO class 1) and anti-drone systems, critical infrastructure protection, military mobility; the second category on the other hand includes air and missile defence systems, surface and underwater maritime capabilities, drones other than small drones (NATO class 2 and 3) and related anti-drone systems, strategic enablers such as strategic airlift or airborne refuelling, protection of space assets, artificial intelligence and electronic warfare. 

“We are becoming a real defence bank,” emphasised the Defence Commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, at the press conference held for the occasion. The allocation of funds, he explained, “is based on the countries’ requests, there is no parameter” other than the interest shown by the capitals. “This significant amount will help deter our enemies and strengthen European defence,” he argues. 

“This Commission takes the rearming of Europe seriously,” echoed Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Security and Democracy. This is demonstrated by the fact that, in the proposal for the new multiannual framework (MFF 2028-2034), in which, with 131 billion in total, “we have increased the resources for defence fivefold.” It is the new EU preparing for the worst.