Skip to content
MIKES

EU programmes · European Commission

Security Action for Europe

LoansInnovation procurementDefence
Ticket size
Up to EUR 150bn total; individual Member State loan requests vary (18 states requested a combined EUR 127bn by July 2025)

About the programme

SAFE is an EU financial instrument adopted in May 2025 that authorises the European Commission to borrow up to EUR 150 billion on capital markets and on-lend the proceeds to Member States as preferential loans for the joint procurement of defence capabilities.

  • It targets urgent and large-scale investments in the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB), with a focus on closing critical capability gaps, boosting production capacity, and reducing market fragmentation.
  • Projects must involve at least one EU Member State and products must contain a minimum share of European components.
  • The instrument is temporary and operates through 2030 as the first pillar of the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030.

Why it matters

SAFE unlocks an unprecedented volume of subsidised sovereign borrowing for defence procurement, making it the single largest EU-level demand signal for defence-industrial output in history — directly benefiting prime contractors and supply-chain firms whose products qualify under the instrument's European-content rules.

  • SMEs and mid-caps that can integrate into multi-country consortia stand to access long-term, predictable order books backed by EU-guaranteed financing.
  • Because Member States submitted loan requests totalling EUR 127bn by July 2025, procurement pipelines are already forming and companies need to position themselves in qualifying consortia now.

Calls & cycles

none tracked
No call cycle on record. Check the official programme page.

Related programmes

EU programmesOpen call

CASSINI Space Entrepreneurship Initiative

European Commission (DG DEFIS), with EUSPA and the EIF

Space is treated as dual-use across EU funding; CASSINI gives space-defence start-ups an equity pipeline and visibility instruments that stack with EDF and EUDIS applications.

EquityAcceleratorsPrizes & challengesDual-useDeep tech
See programme
EU programmesOpen call

Defence Equity Facility (DEF)

European Investment Fund with the European Commission, under InvestEU

Not a programme you apply to as a company, but it determines which European VCs have fresh defence-mandated capital; track its fund commitments to know who can actually write you a cheque.

EquityDefenceDual-useDeep tech
See programme
EU programmesOpen call

EIB Group Security and Defence Financing

European Investment Bank Group

Debt, not grants: the EIB now finances defence companies that banks still avoid, and venture debt from its one-stop shop can extend runway without dilution once you have revenue or strong contracts.

LoansEquityDefenceSecurityDual-use
Direct venture debt for fast-growing innovative SMEs and mid-caps; intermediated credit lines via partner banks for smaller ticketsSee programme