Commission approves second wave of SAFE defence funding for eight Member States

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

Following, the approval of the first wave of defence funding, the European Commission has cleared a second group of national defence plans under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, marking another major step in making the Union safer. The Commission submitted a proposal to the Council to approve financial assistance for Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Finland.

This decision follows a rigorous assessment of the countries’ “National Defence Investment Plans” under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative. The Commission is opening the door 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. The framework also deepens Ukraine’s integration into the EU’s security ecosystem, ensuring that European support remains both agile and sustainable.

The funding levels for each country were provisionally set in September, based on principles of solidarity and transparency. This group of eight Member States are entitled to around €74 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. The Commission continues its assessment of the plans for the remaining Member States.

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