Commission approves first wave of defence funding for eight Member States under SAFE

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The European Commission has endorsed the national defence plans of eight Member States, marking a milestone in Europe’s push to strengthen its security. The Commission submitted a proposal to the Council to approve financial assistance for Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal and Romania.

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Last year, the EU has made more progress in defence than in decades before. The White Paper and the Readiness Roadmap 2030 enabled Member States to mobilise up to 800 billion euros for defence. This includes the 150 billion euros for joint procurement – SAFE. We have now approved an initial batch of SAFE plans for Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal and Romania. The others will follow shortly after. It is now urgent for the Council to approve these plans to allow fast disbursement.”

This decision follows a rigorous assessment of the countries’ “National Defence Investment Plans” under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative. The endorsement paves the way for the first wave of low-cost, long-term loans to be released, allowing these nations to urgently scale up their military readiness and acquire needed modern defence equipment. It also integrates Ukraine into the EU security ecosystem and ensures our support is both rapid and sustainable. 

The funding levels for each country were provisionally set in September, based on principles of solidarity and transparency. For example, €1.18 billion has been earmarked for Cyprus, while €16.68 billion is tentatively allocated for Romania. This group of 8 Member States are entitled to around €38 billion after the loan agreements will be signed.These funds will provide a vital boost to strategic capabilities where they are needed most.

Next Steps

With the Commission’s assessment complete, the Council now has four weeks to adopt the implementing decisions. Once approved, the Commission will finalize the loan agreements, with the first payments expected to hit the ground in March 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.

For More Information

White Paper for European Defence and the ReArm Europe Plan- Readiness 2030

SAFE