EU urges Italy to sign SAFE defence funds agreement

Brussels – Italy must sign the agreement as soon as possible in order to access SAFE (Security Action for Europe) funds because, should Italy change its mind, those resources will have to be allocated to other countries and projects, and the deadline for their reallocation is the end of the year. Thomas Regnier, spokesperson for the European Commission on Defence, said this to clarify the situation during the European Commission’s daily press conference. Regnier was responding to a question about comments made by the Italian Defence Minister, Guido Crosetto, in an interview with La Stampa, in which he suggested that Italy might use the SAFE funds for projects in 2027. “I believe the political context shows that the deadline was practically yesterday. We must move forward, we must implement, we must disburse the funds, we must be able to support our defence industry,” commented Regnier. “At present, the legal deadline is by the end of the year to reallocate any funds that may not have been used. For this reason, we need to know exactly where we stand and what the situation is in each Member State. So yes, in addition to that legal deadline, it is important for this reason to act swiftly and proceed with the signing of all the plans that have been approved,” he clarified. 

SAFE, which is one of the pillars of the ReArm EU Plan/Readiness 2030, aims to raise €150 billion on the markets, which the EU will provide as loans to participating Member States so that they can develop and strengthen their defence industries. To access the programme, the countries concerned have submitted National Defence Investment Plans, which the Commission has assessed and approved. Following this stage, agreements are signed to secure the funds allocated to the projects outlined in the plans. Italy’s plan has also been examined and given the go-ahead by the Berlaymont Building, but Rome has not yet moved on to the next stage of signing the agreement with Brussels. 

For the time being, “we have 18 Member States whose plans have been approved” and which “have received the loan agreements, which must be finalised before they can be signed.” Of these 18 countries, “ten Member States have signed the loan agreements; five have returned them to us and we are about to sign with them as well,” while “three remain, including Italy, with whom we must absolutely proceed, and do so rather quickly, to sign the agreement and release the funds so that the projects can get underway,” Regnier explained. The amount allocated to Italy is almost €15 billion (€14.9 billion). 

“SAFE has a long-term goal for 2030” to strengthen the sector. “This means we have a budget of €150 billion which we will disburse gradually to Member States that have signed the agreements and projects, with a view to investing heavily in our defence industry between now and 2030. These will therefore be phased disbursements, which we have already begun, in particular with Poland, Cyprus, and Lithuania,” the spokesperson noted. Therefore, “as regards the deadline—whether the signing must take place now or not—the aim is to do so as quickly as possible so that we can release the funds and reallocate any unused funds by the end of the year,” he confirmed. “This is our legal deadline: the reallocation of unused funds must be carried out by the end of this year. So yes, time is of the essence and limited,” he concluded.