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Canada to join EU multibillion fund for rearmament

by AI | 03.Dec 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Canada will participate in an important new EU multibillion fund for defense investments. As a result, Canada can enter the arms market together with EU countries, and Canadian arms manufacturers can compete much more generously for European contracts.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Mark Carney and EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa earlier this year. (Photo: Olivier Matthys / POOL / AFP)

BRUSSELS – Canada is the first country that does not belong to the EU or is not economically counted as such to gain access to the so-called SAFE. The participation will “close crucial gaps in our capabilities, expand the market for Canadian suppliers and attract European defense investments to Canada,” expects Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. His country does have to pay an entry fee for SAFE, which has 150 billion euros to spend.

For the EU it is important that a large, close ally like Canada will help with the rearmament of Europe. SAFE gives European manufacturers priority, but Canadian companies are now also allowed to share.

Comparable negotiations with the UK have so far stalled. Turkey and South Korea are even further from a deal.

(1 December 2025)