Adopted by the Council of the European Union on the 27th of May 2025, SAFE (Security Action for Europe) is the EU’s new financial instrument designed to provide financial support to Member States to speed up defence readiness by allowing urgent and major investments in support of the European defence industry, with a focus on closing critical capability gaps.

May 21, 2025 - The Commission’s ‘Readiness ... pillar, aims to turbocharge orders, secure supply chains, and fire up manufacturing lines by nudging member states to pool procurement in certain capabilities that are seen as priorities...

A 1.5% GDP increase in defence ... - Security Action for Europe (SAFE) - to help countries invest in key defence areas like missile defence, drones, and cyber security....

At that European Council, all member ... pace needed. SAFE is the first pillar of the European Commission's ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030, which proposes to leverage over €800 billion in defence spending....

September 9, 2025 - SAFE is not a permanent instrument. It is ‘an exceptional and temporary response’ to the need to ‘markedly’ step up Europe’s ability to defend itself. The loans will be disbursed by the end of 2030 and repaid over 45 years. This is part of a wider package of measures under the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 intended not only to boost defence spending, but to ensure that that spending promotes collaboration and avoids some of the wasteful practices that have characterised European defence spending to date.

September 17, 2025 - It involves raising the new funding through “capital markets” and then redistributing it to member states through loans based on demand and national equipment plans, according to a Commission statement.

August 11, 2025 - It is an extraordinary fund designed to urgently fill gaps in the defence abilities of countries, increase the production capacity as well as ensure the availability of defence equipment.

May 28, 2025 - The SAFE programme stands out from other EU instruments supporting the defence industry in that it does not provide subsidies, but loans for joint acquisitions, which Member States will have to repay under favourable conditions.

SAFE - Security Action for Europe: A new financial EU instrument to support Member States in boosting their defence investments (under Article 122 of the TFEU: allows exceptional response to exceptional circumstances).

The new EU package aims to ensure that increased defence spending strengthens the EU's defence industry and reduces dependencies. This is achieved by prioritizing European suppliers and equipment, thereby generally restricting market access ...

Specifically, the EU is providing temporary emergency financial assistance through a loan mechanism (Security Action for Europe or SAFE) and gives member states additional budgetary flexibility in requesting activation of the national escape clause.

2 days ago - Brussels – EU defense fund national plans are in, and three‑quarters feature measures and projects with Ukraine’s participation. Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius unveiled the plan with great fanfare, stressing the “historic commitment” by governments to SAFE, the 150‑billion euros tool to revive heavy industry.

September 8, 2025 - Initiated from 29 May with its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, SAFE enables Member States to submit national plans for fund access, aligning procurement projects with EU aims.

The priority is to have a co-ordinated effort by member-states, to aggregate demand better, provide long-term orders, reduce fragmentation and improve interoperability. Orders should mainly go to European industry, to provide it with enough ...

June 6, 2025 - The “SAFE” plan is aimed at boosting joint European defence procurement, replenishing military stocks and ramping up Europe’s defence industry.

September 12, 2025 - As a response, the EU adopted the so-called SAFE Regulation in 2025. It is based on Article 122 TFEU and is intended to accelerate efforts to achieve autonomous defense capability.

The SAFE Regulation represents a fundamental shift in EU defence policy, introducing unprecedented financial support coupled with strict eligibility criteria designed to build a robust European defence industrial base.

To incentivise European Union governments to spend more on defence, the European Commission proposed in March up to €150 billion of EU loans for joint procurement projects (known as SAFE, Security Action for Europe).

The first would be through the SAFE instrument – an offer to member states to borrow up to €150 billion to finance defence procurement on the terms of the EU bonds issued to raise this money in the capital markets (European Commission, 2025).

July 30, 2025 - With a 150 billion euro budget, the fund is the first significant European military investment to fund joint defense procurement, in which both Member States and third countries such as Norway, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Ukraine can participate.