EU programmes · European Commission
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.