SAFE Defence Fund

About SAFE Defence Fund:

• 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.
• Focus: The assistance helps EU member states make rapid and significant increases in their defence investments through common procurement.
• Loan: 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: 
    • 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.