Tajani’s pre-emptive move on Safe irks the League. Brussels: “Italy must clarify”

“We have decided to utilise Safe by requesting funding of 14.9 billion by the end of the year; we will draw up our proposal, and then Mr Crosetto will outline how to invest these funds in the following year.” This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani during his address to the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, alongside Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, as part of the briefing on the outcomes of the NATO summit in Ankara. The SAFE programme is an EU instrument that provides loans of up to 150 billion euros to help member states rapidly and significantly increase investment in the defence sector through joint procurement.

“As it has been set up, it is a tool for financing military expenditure. It is not in addition to what is already provided for in the budget,” explained Crosetto during the briefing. “So in Italy, SAFE is an alternative. I hear everyone talking about SAFE as if it were a panacea for all ills. It is an entirely technical decision that we will make by the end of the year: of the 14.9 billion mentioned earlier by Minister Tajani, we will assess how much to use it for technical purposes as an alternative to BoTs and CCTs, from the point of view of financial viability. The amount could be five, six, seven or eight billion euros, based on the programmes already planned by the Ministry of Defence,” he added. This point was subsequently reiterated by Tajani, who, outside the Senate, clarified what he had said earlier during the hearing: “We have earmarked 14.9 billion for the SAFE; the government will decide by the end of the year how much to use.” Contrary to what was stated during the hearing, the decision to use the full 14.9 billion has not yet been taken, but the government’s intention is to submit the request by the end of 2026.

“At present, the Safe is a purely technical decision regarding the financing of current defence expenditure,” Crosetto reiterated, explaining that European funds would be used to finance expenditure items that have already been committed. “Therefore, it is not a political decision that strengthens or weakens Europe; it is a decision that has been viewed from a technical perspective. The political decision,” he continued, “will be the budget deviation we will vote on – if we vote in September – regarding 0.9 per cent for defence and 0.6 per cent for energy, because this year the infringement procedure allows us to invest more only if we adopt the deviation, and we will see the effects of that in 2027–28. Those will be political decisions concerning both energy and defence.” 

“Parliament has the final say on the use of SAFE funds,” sources within the League have stated. League Senator Claudio Borghi, however, spoke more plainly. “I welcome Tajani’s clarifications on the SAFE funds. No decision has been made on whether or not to use them, and Parliament will decide on the basis of what is appropriate and cost-effective,” he wrote on X. “The ‘reservation’ of the 15 billion is, as is well known, merely an expression of interest.” Reactions differed from that of Maurizio Lupi, president of Noi Moderati, who believes the government’s decision to draw on the SAFE funds “is a step in the right direction. It is essential that defence investments form part of a common European strategy, because today security is built collectively. Investing in defence – he continued – does not mean fuelling an arms race, but rather strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy and supporting innovation, cybersecurity and advanced technologies, starting with artificial intelligence, with positive effects on the competitiveness of our production system and, therefore, on businesses and citizens.”

From the opposition, Italia Viva leader Matteo Renzi criticised the Foreign Secretary: “Tajani goes before the committee and says: we have decided to apply for €14.9 billion in SAFE European funds. Big news! But it causes a stir within the ruling coalition. Half an hour later, Tajani clarifies: ‘We haven’t requested them, we’ve merely “reserved” them.’ But where on earth does our Foreign Minister live? The SAFE funds are already reserved: the government must decide whether to use them or not,” he wrote on X, launching yet another attack on the leader of Forza Italia: “As usual, Tajani speaks and is then called to order. A complete incompetent. One is tempted to quote Checco Zalone: ‘But is this part of the job?’ Unfortunately, however, we’re talking about defence in a world of wars. And we’re in the hands of people like Tajani.”

“Ideally, we certainly want Italy to retain the 14.9 billion in Safe funds as announced today, and this is a very, very positive development. Now, we must proceed to sign the loan agreement because we need to disburse the funds to get the project off the ground. So this is the timeline we are considering.” A spokesperson for the European Commission made this statement, explaining that “clarity is needed as soon as possible”, given that “if anything were to change regarding the funds, we would find ourselves in an even more urgent situation because those funds would have to be reallocated. There is no time to lose.”  

The wait until December for the loan agreement to be signed, the spokesperson added, “is not a timeframe that suits us. We need to move much faster because if there is even the slightest chance that Italy will accept less than these 14.9 billion euros, then there is a legal deadline set out in the regulation that obliges the Commission to launch a new plan and reallocate those funds by the end of this year. This must be clear to all Member States,” the Commission emphasised. There is “a possibility of a potential surplus of 10 billion” in the fund, which “is based on many factors. The fact that some loan agreements have not yet been signed, of course, and then there is the situation in Italy, which we must clarify as quickly as possible”, she explained. “But today we have received a reassuring message from Italy, namely that it intends to stick to the budget. Then there is still the Hungarian plan to be approved, and there is also an element of uncertainty. So I think we can safely assume, as the President said, that the final figure will be around 10 billion,” he explained.