EU officially agrees on 150-billion-euro defense fund

The EU has reached an agreement to launch a common defense fund of 150 billion euros ($170 billion) called SAFE, the Council of the EU announced on May 21.

"The more we invest in equipping our armies, the better we will deter those who wish us harm," the council said on X.

"SAFE is the first major EU program to increase investment in European defense capabilities, which becomes a reality."

The move comes as Europe faces an increasingly challenging security environment, with Russia continuing to wage its war against Ukraine and U.S. security commitments to its European partners growing uncertain.

The new SAFE mechanism, proposed by the European Commission in March, will allow member states to borrow money from the EU to purchase weapons and military equipment.

EU members reached a preliminary agreement on the initiative on May 19, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent at the time. The program will be formally adopted on May 27.

"SAFE is an advantageous, low-interest, multi-year loan guaranteed by the EU budget," the council said.

"The program is also about simpler and accelerated procedures for joint defense procurement."

Some non-EU countries will reportedly be able to participate in the program if their expenditures do not exceed 35% of the cost. Despite agreement on the need to hike defense spending, several EU states have previously disagreed on whether these efforts should be coordinated with nations outside of the bloc, such as the U.K. or Turkey.

The 150-billion-euro fund was proposed as part of the European Commission's ambitious ReArm Europe program, which would also allow member states to spend an additional 650 billion euros ($730 billion) on defense by loosening fiscal rules.

Some of the funds raised under the ReArm Europe program will be allocated to military support for Ukraine, EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said in a media interview in May.