The European Commission and France have signed an agreement to provide Paris with a loan of more than 15 billion euros under the SAFE programme to strengthen the EU’s defence capabilities.
According to Report’s European bureau, the agreement was signed during the Eurosatory international defence exhibition in Paris, attended by European Commissioners for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, and for Budget and Human Resources, Petr Serafin, as well as the French Ministers for the Armed Forces and the Economy, Catherine Vautrin and Roland Lescure.
According to Serafin, the agreement represents an important step towards enhancing Europe’s strategic autonomy.
“€150 billion for Europe, €15 billion for France. Is that enough? Of course not. But it is the first step towards sustainable European engagement in the field of security and defence,” he said at the signing ceremony.
Kubilius noted that SAFE represents “not only the European Union’s largest investment in the defence of Member States, but also one of the swiftest decisions taken by the EU to strengthen defence capabilities”.
For his part, Lescure described the signing as “an important day for France, Europe and the European defence industry”, noting that the programme would enable the funding of joint projects between EU countries and accelerate investment in the defence sector.
