European Commission opens new round for €21.3 billion in defence loans — RMF24

The European Commission has announced the launch of a new application round for €21.3 billion in defence loans under the SAFE programme. All EU member states will be able to apply for funding, including countries that did not take part in the first round, RMF24 reports.

Funds remained after the first allocation

The new financial pool was formed from funds that were not used during the first allocation. At that time, 19 countries participating in the programme received a total of €150 billion, with Poland allocated the largest amount — €43.7 billion.

Some countries subsequently reduced their stated funding needs. Italy decided to use €8 billion instead of the planned €15 billion, while Hungary reduced its expected amount from €16 billion to €5.4 billion.

The programme rules have not changed

Responding to a question about a possible allocation of funds if applications exceed the available €21.3 billion, European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said that the Commission first wants to determine whether the entire volume of funding can be used. According to him, the criteria for the new round remain the same.

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Regnier also denied that directing funds to support Ukraine is a condition for receiving the loans. He recalled that SAFE provides for joint procurement and that Ukraine has been included in this mechanism from the outset. The spokesperson called on EU states to implement joint projects so that the resources benefit both national defence industries and Ukraine.

Poland has not yet decided

Poland has not yet made a decision on participating in the second round. Deputy Minister of National Defence Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said in Brussels on October 8 that the matter remains open, in particular because the use of funds from the new pool must be reported on by 2030.

On Friday, Poland is due to submit to the European Commission its first request for a payment of more than €6 billion under the SAFE programme. In May, the country already received a €6.5 billion advance payment. According to Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, the Armaments Agency has concluded 39 agreements and 12 annexes to them under SAFE, with a total value of 120 billion zlotys.