The European Commission plans to use at least €10 billion of unspent funds from the SAFE programme for new joint defence and industrial projects involving Ukrainian companies. This figure is provisional for the time being: the final amount will depend on the conclusion of agreements with EU Member States and the approval of the remaining national plans.
- The EU is preparing a new defence programme with Ukraine.
- We are talking about at least €10 billion.
- The funds will be drawn from the SAFE balance.
- Ukrainian companies will be able to take part in projects.
The European Commission has set a minimum amount
At the very least €10 billion a spokesperson for the European Commission on defence matters said on 18 September Thomas Renier during a briefing in Brussels. According to him, this is a conservative estimate of the funds that may remain available for the new initiative once the loans under the SAFE programme have been finalised.
The final amount of funding has not yet been determined. It will depend, in particular, on the finalisation of the latest loan agreements and the situation regarding Hungary’s national plan. It is therefore more accurate at this stage to refer to the €10 billion as the minimum available volume, rather than the funds already transferred to Ukraine.
Von der Leyen has announced a new programme with Ukraine
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced on the new mechanism on 16 September during his address on the state of the European Union.
She stated that the EU would use the remaining SAFE funds to set up a new programme of joint projects with Ukrainian companies. Prior to this, von der Leyen had also announced that Europe and Ukraine would be working together on a more accessible, modular missile defence system as part of the Freya project.
«Using the remaining SAFE funds, we will set up a new programme of joint projects with Ukrainian companies,» said von der Leyen.
How SAFE will work for Ukraine
SAFE is a European instrument with a budget of up to €150 billion, which provides long-term loans to EU Member States for investment in defence and joint procurement. Ukraine may participate in such projects alongside its European partners.
In other words, the €10 billion will not be transferred to Ukraine as a direct loan. The loans are arranged by EU Member States, whilst Ukrainian defence companies can participate in joint production and procurement and receive orders within the framework of such projects.
Under the SAFE rules, at least 65% component costs in the projects must come from the EU, Ukraine or other countries eligible for the scheme.
The EU is already increasing its funding for the Ukrainian defence industry
The new SAFE initiative will be separate from the existing one €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan for 2026–2027. Of this amount, approximately €60 billion is earmarked to support Ukraine’s defence procurement and industrial capabilities.
It was only on 18 September that the European Commission announced another transfer €3.3 billion under this programme for the procurement of drones and missiles. In total, by 2026, the Commission had already disbursed around €15 billion in defence and budgetary support to Ukraine.
Consequently, the planned programme, based on the remaining SAFE funds, is set to become a further channel for integrating Ukraine’s defence industry into the European industrial system.
