European Commission approves Belgium’s defence investment plan
The European Commission has approved Belgium’s defence investment plan, opening the way to more than 8 billion euros in favourable European loans, it announced on Thursday.
Belgium is one of 19 member states that signed up last year to SAFE, a new 150 billion euro European financing programme designed to support joint investments in the European defence industry. The scheme aims to encourage collective military procurement and address key capability gaps, including in drones, missiles and air defence.
To gain access to the loans, participating member states were required to submit a national investment plan. The Commission approved the first eight plans this week. Alongside Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain, Denmark, Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal and Romania also received the green light. Together, the eight countries are eligible for around 38 billion euros in loans, of which 8.34 billion euros could go to Belgium.
"Our mission is clear: to very quickly build a more resilient Union through our SAFE initiative"
The Council of the EU now has four weeks to ratify the Commission’s decisions. Once that step is completed, the Commission wants to finalise the individual loan agreements as quickly as possible, with the aim of making the first payments by March.
"Our mission is clear: to very quickly build a more resilient Union through our SAFE initiative," said European commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius in a statement. "By focusing on joint procurement, we are ensuring that member states buy together, which reduces costs and ensures our equipment works seamlessly across borders."
Not part of budgetary balance
Alongside SAFE, the Commission is also offering member states the option of temporarily excluding defence spending from the calculation of their budgetary balance. This is how Belgium was able to scale up defence spending in 2025, while still complying with the EU's requirements for reducing its budget deficit.
Through the mechanism, the Commission hopes to unlock a further 650 billion euros in defence investments. That includes countries that are not participating in SAFE because they can already borrow on more favourable terms.
© BELGA PHOTO YORICK JANSENS
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