MNI BRIEF: SAFE Loans To Be Disbursed From March 2026

The European Commission is looking to disburse loans to EU member states under its €150bn SAFE defence facility from March 2026, an EU official said Thursday.  

The funds will be focused on building capabilities in four flagship defence projects: the priority building drone defences; reinforcing the Eastern Flank; a European Air Shield and a Space Defence Shield, with all the projects needing to be completed by 2030.

The official said that states will be expected to organise themselves into so-called "capability coalitions" for joint procurement in order to ensure effective coordination of defence spending as well as interoperability of weapons and equipment in each of the projects. The 18 states which have applied for SAFE loans will need to produce a national defence plan by the end of November, which the EC will approve by the end of January.