Crosetto is pushing to spend the 14.9 billion euros of the European armaments fund. The Minister of Defense said he had urged his colleague in the Ministry of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, to make a final decision regarding Italy’s access to the European Union Safe. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of a digital platform for defense partners, Crosetto declared that he had written to Giorgetti twice, underlining that Italy must confirm its desire to access the program by the end of this month, under penalty of being unable to sign the relevant contracts within the established timeframes.
What is Safe, the European armaments fund
The Security action for Europe (Safe) instrument, adopted by the EU Council in May 2025, is a joint debt plan guaranteed by the community budget. The fund makes available up to 150 billion euros in long-term loans and competitive rates to help member states meet increased NATO spending targets and support Europe’s defense industry. Italy is among the main applicants after Poland and Romania, after having submitted an application in recent months to access a share of 14.9 billion euros.
The objective of the Meloni government is to use these advantageous loans to finance already planned investments, exceeding the 12 billion euros needed to increase military spending on defense by 0.5% of GDP by 2028. However, the economic context distorted by the war in Iran and the Hormuz crisis has changed the spending plans, as is also understood from the caution shown by Giorgetti himself: in Parliament, the Minister of Economy underlined that the funds will have to be repaid and will entail budget constraints.
Giorgetti’s doubts, Crosetto’s haste and discontent in the arms sector
“The government is engaged in intensive talks with the Commission to ensure greater budgetary flexibility to support measures to protect families and businesses from the impact of high energy costs, which I have repeatedly called the top priority,” Giorgetti said.
For his part, Crosetto says he is “neither pessimistic nor optimistic. I am awaiting the decisions because, by the end of May, it would be necessary to decide whether to access the ‘Safe’ fund or not, because the contracts would need to be signed by the end of May. This is a decision that falls to the Mef. I wrote a letter to Giorgetti and sent another back yesterday to find out what the Mef’s decision is on the matter. I await the response”.
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A source close to the matter, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters that discontent with the Treasury Ministry’s final decision is growing in the defense sector, as access to Safe funds is considered fundamental to spending plans.
