Brussels – The European Commission launches its second €21.3 billion funding round as part of SAFE (Security Action for Europe), the €150 billion long-term lending facility designed to strengthen Member States’ defence capabilities and accelerate investment in the European defence industry. The Commission is calling on countries to use the new resources to support Ukraine and meet the most urgent needs of its armed forces. The Commission announced this in a statement.
“We encourage Member States to use these funds to meet Ukraine’s needs,” said European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier during the usual daily press briefing, emphasising the need to address defence spending requirements urgently. Once the Commission has received the amounts requested by the Member States, it “will inform the countries of the provisional allocations within two weeks of the submission deadline.”
So far, Regnier reported, 19 Member States have applied for over €130 billion out of the total 150 billion available. All national plans have been approved, and the Commission has signed 16 loan agreements. Eleven countries have also received pre-financing: according to the latest figures provided by the spokesperson, disbursements amount to almost €13.5 billion.
The new call for proposals forms part of the SAFE framework, adopted in May 2025 and is an integral part of the European Readiness 2030 plan. The instrument enables the European Union to raise funds on the capital markets to grant loans to Member States, based on national defence investment plans. The aim is to accelerate the procurement of military equipment, strengthen Europe’s industrial and technological base, and reduce fragmentation across national markets through greater cooperation.
Joint procurement projects generally involve at least two countries, at least one of which must be a SAFE beneficiary. However, temporary derogations are provided for to enable the timely acquisition of critical military capabilities. At least 65 per cent of the cost of components must originate from the European Union, Ukraine or eligible countries within the European Economic Area and the European Free Trade Association.
As regards priorities, the Commission is encouraging Member States to include in their investment plans joint procurement with Ukraine. The sectors listed include air defence and missile defence systems, drones and anti-drone systems, as well as ammunition and missiles, which are considered essential to meet the most urgent needs of the Ukrainian armed forces and those of Member States.
Within the framework of the resources available through SAFE, Italy has decided to request €8.9 billion rather than the 14.9 billion initially envisaged. This decision was outlined in August by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who justified the reduction on the grounds of the need to “allocate more resources to healthcare and social policies.” The scaling back of Italy’s request forms part of the debate on public spending priorities and the use of European loans to strengthen defence, against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and pressure on national budgets.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
