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UK-EU Defense Fund Talks Collapse Over Payment Dispute
UK missed deadline to join €150 billion EU defence fund due to disputes over financial contributions and procurement limits, limiting participation to 35%, officials said.
- On Friday, talks for the United Kingdom to join the European Union's SAFE defence fund collapsed two days before the Sunday deadline for first-round project bids.
- Reportedly, the UK proposed a pay-per-project scheme, but negotiations with the European Commission collapsed over EU demands for cash and concessions that the UK judged too high, according to the i Paper.
- The SAFE fund is a 150 billion euro programme allowing third countries up to 35% participation, with potential for higher access through UK-EU deals.
- The collapse dealt a major blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's post-Brexit reset, but British firms such as BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Babcock retain default SAFE access and benefit from bilateral deals.
- Internal EU divisions, notably between France and Germany, complicate SAFE negotiations, while the Commission stresses its emergency nature with urgent 2030 delivery targets and tight year-end timetables.
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47 Articles
47 Articles
The British defence industry will not be counted as European in the new European instrument to assist the rearmament of the Old Continent, called SAFE.
·Paris, France
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Billion-dollar fund: London was eager to participate in a multi-billion-dollar EU fund to build up European defense. But it failed to reach an agreement on…
·Netherlands
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources47
Leaning Left11Leaning Right8Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution41% Left
Bias Distribution
- 41% of the sources lean Left
41% Left
L 41%
C 30%
R 29%
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