President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on the evening of Monday 1 December that the negotiations held in preparation for Canada’s participation in the EU loan instrument ‘SAFE’ - which will help 19 Member States increase military spending up to €150 billion - had been finalised (see EUROPE 13763/2).
The conclusion of negotiations on the ‘SAFE’ instrument is “the next step in our deepening cooperation” in the defence sector: “We will create resilient defence supply chains between our industries”, the leaders, both pleased, declared in a joint statement. “We will create more jobs, more growth”.
Thomas Regnier, a spokesperson for the EU institution, indicated on Tuesday that Ottawa’s one-off contribution to participate in ‘SAFE’ would amount to “€10 million”. A correction mechanism will be in place to assess whether this contribution will need to be revised upwards depending on the number of contracts that the Canadian military industry gets and the number of jobs it creates. According to Mr Regnier, the EU has ensured that Canadian defence equipment acquired via ‘SAFE’ will contain “a minimum share of 20% of European components”.
In the context of ‘SAFE’, European industry is particularly interested in the critical raw materials that are available in Canada. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)