On Wednesday 1 April, the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) approved the investment plans of France and the Czech Republic, which will be supported for a total of €15.09 billion and €2.06 billion respectively under the European SAFE lending instrument for Member States to increase their military spending (see EUROPE 13836/21).
The two national plans will be formally adopted following a written procedure which will expire on 10 April.
Of the nineteen EU countries that have applied to use the SAFE instrument, Hungary is the last Member State whose national plan, worth €16.22 billion, has not yet been approved by the Commission.
Officially, discussions are ongoing. But the stalemate is also due to the Hungarian government’s refusal to approve the 20th package of European sanctions against Russia and the EU loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027.
The eighteen other Member States are currently negotiating with the Commission regarding their financial documents which will authorise the granting of EU pre-financing (see EUROPE 13805/36). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)