The UK has been eyeing access to the fund since it signed a defence partnership with the EU in May.

Negotiations with the UK and Canada on their participation in the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence fund can begin, the European Council announced on 18 September, bringing both countries a step closer to accessing the EUR150 billion fund.

Conducted by the European Commission, negotiations will seek to establish the conditions under which UK and Canadian companies can be involved in procurements under the SAFE fund.

The commission will conduct its negotiations in dialogue with the European Council and, once agreements are signed, they will be subject to approval from the European Parliament.

Unveiled in March 2025 under the ReArm Europe plan and later elaborated on as part of the White Paper for European Defence, SAFE is an investment vehicle designed to enable common procurements amongst EU member and partner states.

Since its inception, the fund has been a continued source of interest for countries outside of the EU, particularly the UK and Canada.

When the UK and the EU inked a security and defence partnership in May, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that it would “open the door” to working with SAFE. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, however, was careful to call the partnership only a “first step” towards accessing SAFE.

Canada is in a similar position, having signed a security and defence partnership with the EU recently as well.

At present, according to this latest announcement, participation in SAFE fund procurement can include non-member states, such as acceding countries, candidate countries, potential candidates, and countries that have signed security and defence partnerships with the EU, such as the UK and Canada.

European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states and Ukraine are treated on the same terms as member states, the European Council said.

There has been much enthusiasm among EU member states for the SAFE fund, with the European Commission revealing in August that 18 EU member states had already signed up to claim at least EUR127 billion of the fund.

In July, the European Commission established a taskforce to help deliver SAFE made up of representatives nominated by the EU member states.