The European Commission has approved the national plans of eight additional member states under the SAFE programme, including Finland's, which opens up new multi-billion euro loans for investments in Europe's military capacity and defence industry.
The SAFE programme allows EU member states to submit national plans to access funding and thereby accelerate investments in their defence capabilities. The programme includes a total of 150 billion euros in loans to the member states whose plans are approved. Earlier this week, Nordic Defence Sector reported that eight countries, including Denmark, had their plans approved by the European Commission. In total, 19 countries have submitted national plans under the programme, and now an additional eight countries have received approval.
Among the countries whose plans have now been approved are Finland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Poland, Italy, Slovakia, and Greece are also included in the latest group. According to the European Commission, these countries have applied for a total of 74 billion euros in funding, which corresponds to about half of the total amount the Commission plans to borrow to finance the SAFE programme.
The European Commission's Executive Vice-President responsible for technology sovereignty, security, and democracy, Henna Virkkunen, comments on the decision in a statement:
– Europe is strengthening its defence and security. In today's geopolitical situation, swift actions are required. With this second round of funding, further steps are being taken to increase the union's security and independence, says Virkkunen.
Poland has applied for the largest share of the funding, 43.7 billion euros. Finland has applied for 1 billion euros, while Denmark's application amounts to 47 million euros. In total, the European Commission has now approved 16 of the 19 submitted plans. The Czech Republic, France, and Hungary are still under review.