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Eighteen member states have put in requests for Commission-issued loans to finance defence projects, with Poland asking for over a third of the total asked.
The EU executive said on Wednesday that Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Finland had requested access to so-called SAFE loans by its soft deadline of 29 July.
The total money they requested amounts to €127 billion.
Poland’s deputy prime minister said the projects the country submitted to the Commission collectively had a price tag of “approximately €45 billion”.
“We want the funds from this programme to strengthen the key capabilities of the Polish Armed Forces and our security programmes, including, among others, the “Eastern Shield” programme,” Władysław Marcin Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote in a post on X.
“The final amount we receive will depend on the number of applications and the allocation of funds by the EC among member states. Securing these funds is a tangible investment in the security and development of our defence industry. It also strengthens the security, deterrence capabilities, and defence of the entire EU and NATO,” he added.
Warsaw’s defence spending has jumped from 2.7% of GDP in 2022 to 4.2% in 2024 – the highest level for any NATO ally. It is projected to rise to 4.7% this year.
The Commission’s loans-for-weapons programme, dubbed SAFE, is a key plank of the ‘Readiness 2030’ proposal that aims to see hundreds of billions of euros invested into defence across the EU before the end of the decade.
The EU’s executive, which has a better credit rating than many member states, has planned to raise up to €150 billion on the markets through the scheme for member states to finance defence acquisitions together.
Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said in a statement that the “strong interest” in the scheme “demonstrates the EU’s unity and ambition in security and defence”.
The deadline for formal submission is 30 November 2025, meaning the total number of member states wishing to tap into SAFE and the amount requested may grow with a Commission spokesperson telling Euronews that Kubilius is in touch with other member states and is “pretty confident that this figure will increase”.
To secure SAFE loans, the projects must include a European preference – whereby about two-thirds of value of the weapon system being acquired has to be made in an EU member state, Ukraine, or in a European Economic Area/European Free Trade Association country.
Several other third countries are however hoping to be able to participate at the same level as EU member states. These include the UK and Canada although they need to negotiate a bilateral agreement first which will include a financial contribution.
Another condition for SAFE is that the projects must target priority capabilities including ammunition, drone and anti-drone systems, air defence, and military mobility among others.
Some member states for which upping military expenditure is a politically sensitive topic may decide to take up loans to finance acquisitions for Ukraine only. Other countries, like Germany, have indicated they may join SAFE procurement projects but finance them through their own coffers.
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