Commission plans €150B SAFE funding to boost Defence Readiness

Last September 9, the European Commission adopted the tentative allocation of €150 billion in financial assistance to strengthen defence readiness across the Union. This major step, taken under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme, is designed to boost the EU’s defence capabilities and help Member States address critical gaps, as well as to purchase defence products together.

Following its adoption by the Council in May 2025, the SAFE programme has drawn strong interest, with 19 Member States expressing their intention to participate and seeking support beyond the available budget.

SAFE will provide long-term, low-cost loans to help Member States procure urgently needed defence equipment. SAFE will also allow the EU to further support Ukraine by associating its defence industry to the instrument from the start. The programme includes a 10-year grace period for loan repayment, competitive interest rates, and options for bilateral agreements with third countries to widen eligibility.

Member States can now prepare their national investment plans, describing the use of the possible financial assistance, to be presented by end November 2025. The Commission will then assess these national plans, with the aim of making the first disbursements in early 2026.

Background

The SAFE Regulation was adopted on 27 May 2025, as part of the Readiness 2030, an ambitious defence package providing financial levers to EU Member States to drive an investment surge in defence capabilities.

SAFE will allow Member States to immediately and massively scale up their defence investments through joint procurement from the European defence industry, focusing on priority capabilities. This will contribute to ensuring interoperability, predictability, and reducing costs for a strong European defence industrial base. Ukraine and EFTA/EEA countries will be able to join common procurement, and it will be possible to buy from their industries.

SAFE will also allow acceding countries, candidate countries, potential candidates and countries having signed Security and Defence Partnerships with the EU to join common procurement and contribute to aggregated demand. They can also negotiate specific, mutually beneficial agreements on the participation of their respective industries in such procurement.

More information: European Commission