SAFE Defence Fund:
The Italian government has requested €8 billion ($9.3 billion) from the European Union’s SAFE defence funding programme.
- The Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument is a joint borrowing scheme backed by the European Union (EU).
- The regulation setting up the SAFE instrument entered into force in 2025.
- It is aimed at boosting the bloc’s defence capabilities and helping member states meet new, more ambitious NATO spending targets.
- The assistance helps EU member states make rapid and significant increases in their defence investments through common procurement.
- Through this instrument, the EU is providing financial assistance in the form of loans worth up to €150 billion.
- Fund Allocation:
- The instrument finances urgent and large-scale investments in the European defence technological and industrial base.
- Allocation of the budget is demand-driven.
- Disbursements take the form of competitively priced long-maturity loans, to be repaid by the beneficiary EU member states.
- While only Member States can obtain SAFE loans, the following countries may participate in common procurement:
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- EU acceding, candidate, and potential candidate countries;
- Countries that have signed Security and Defence Partnerships with the EU, such as Albania, Canada, India (signed in 2026), Japan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Norway, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
