According to three diplomatic sources, the EU and the United Kingdom have failed to reach an agreement on London’s participation in the SAFE programme, which provides for €150 billion in defence loans. The talks proved exceptionally fraught—the two sides could not reconcile their views on how much the UK should pay for access to jointly funded procurement under the initiative. London proposed contributing only a few million euros, while Brussels lowered its initial request—from between €4.5 billion and €6.5 billion—to €2 billion.
This morning, Timo Pesonen, head of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space, informed EU ambassadors that no agreement with the United Kingdom had been reached. In parallel, the Commission is negotiating a similar arrangement with Canada. Pesonen said he would update them on the talks with Ottawa later in the day, adding that there is far greater confidence that a deal with Canada can be concluded.