{"id":48464,"date":"2025-05-16T15:58:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/?post_type=legal_developments&p=48464"},"modified":"2025-05-16T15:58:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:58:54","slug":"security-action-for-europe-safe-through-the-reinforcement-of-the-european-defence-industry-instrument","status":"publish","type":"legal_developments","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/thought-leadership\/security-action-for-europe-safe-through-the-reinforcement-of-the-european-defence-industry-instrument\/","title":{"rendered":"SECURITY ACTION FOR EUROPE (SAFE) THROUGH THE REINFORCEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN DEFENCE INDUSTRY INSTRUMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Russia\u2019s military aggression against Ukraine has marked the dramatic return of territorial conflict and high-intensity warfare on European soil. This structural change in the European security and defence and European geopolitics, has led\u00a0European Union (EU) Member States to rethink their defence plans and capacities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The EU Heads of State or Government, meeting in Versailles on 10 and 11 March 2022, committed to \u201cbolster European defence capabilities\u201d. These aims were reiterated in the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence.<\/p>\n

The EU has adopted two emergency instruments to face the immediate consequences of Russia\u2019s war of aggression against Ukraine, namely the Regulation establishing an instrument for the reinforcement of the\u00a0European defence industry through common procurement\u00a0(EDIRPA)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Regulation on supporting ammunition production\u00a0(ASAP)<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

On March 2023, the European Commission and High Representative also presented a\u00a0European Defence Industrial Strategy<\/strong>\u00a0(EDIS<\/strong>)<\/a>\u00a0which highlighted that EU Member States were still buying predominantly alone and from abroad. This observation was confirmed by the report on the future of European competitiveness, authored by Professor Mario Draghi. EDIS consequently underlined\u00a0the need for Member States to spend more, better, together and European<\/strong>\u00a0in order to reverse negative trends affecting the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB<\/strong>) and\u00a0effectively enhance the EU\u2019s defence industrial readiness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In this context, the European Commission presented a\u00a0five-pillar ReArm Europe Plan<\/strong>\u00a0to the European Council on 6 March 2025. It aims to address the urgency of the situation by unlocking up to\u00a0EUR 800 billion<\/strong>. This framework has now led to a Council proposal, dated 19 March 2025, for a Regulation, with a\u00a0EUR 150 billion funding<\/strong>, aiming at mobilising the Union budget to support and accelerate national investments through a new financial EU instrument: the\u00a0Regulation establishing the Security Action For Europe<\/strong>\u00a0(SAFE<\/strong>)<\/a>\u00a0through the reinforcement of the European defence industry instrument.<\/p>\n

Key Insights of the SAFE Regulation proposal<\/strong><\/h3>\n