Dr Panayiotis Hadjipavlis: Cyprus to declare intention to join SAFE by the end of July

By the end of July, Cyprus will notify the European Commission of its intention to participate in the European financing tool SAFE, according to Dr Panayiotis Hadjipavlis, Director of the Directorate of General Procurement and Development of Defence Capabilities at the Ministry of Defence.

At the same time, he announced that on 29 July, representatives from the EU Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space will be in Cyprus to provide detailed information on the regulation and “how we will proceed”.

Specifically, Hadjipavlis said that a meeting was held a few days ago, chaired by the President of the Republic, who made the decision for the Republic of Cyprus to express an initial intention to utilise the European financial tool SAFE.

He explained that SAFE is a medium-term regulation agreed within the EU under the “ReArm Europe” framework, aiming to provide a maximum loan amount of €150 billion to member states that wish to participate, in order to receive low-interest loans to develop their defence capabilities and support their defence industries.

He stated that this concerns joint procurement of defence equipment by EU member states until 2030, and added that by the end of July, Cyprus and all member states intending to participate must declare their intention to the European Commission.

“We are currently preparing our intention to participate so that it can be submitted on time,” he said, adding that the ecosystem of defence industry companies has been informed, and an extraordinary Defence Industry Council, chaired by the Minister of Defence, was held to discuss the matter.

He also said that the intention is to invite all companies in the ecosystem within the coming days to inform them of the President of the Republic's decision.

Hadjipavlis further stated that the next step for the SAFE regulation is for participating member states to submit by the end of November a detailed Implementation Plan, which will include the programmes each country wishes to implement.

He noted that these plans will subsequently be approved by the EU, after which procedures for the disbursement of funds will begin.

He said the Ministry of Defence is in ongoing contact with the Commission and the EU Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space, who are responsible for the programme and who will visit Cyprus on July 29 to inform us, in detail, about the regulation and how to proceed.

“There are still quite a few gaps which the Commission is currently working through, which is why they are making these contacts with all EU countries,” he added.

“We are also in contact with very friendly member states,” including Greece, regarding the regulation, “so that we can identify joint programmes and move forward with joint procurements,” he added.

Hadjipavlis also said that there has been tremendous effort by Cyprus’ permanent representation in Brussels on this matter and that the Ministry of Defence actively participated and led this effort, “not only to promote the financial and industrial interests of Cyprus' defence industry but also to protect national interests.”

Regarding the amount Cyprus will request, Hadjipavlis said that he cannot yet specify because “several important details are still missing, which the Commission will need to inform us about,” such as the interest rate on the loans.

He noted that even the Commission itself does not yet know the loan interest rate and added that “many things will become clearer” during the visit of the European officials to Cyprus.

“As the Ministry of Defence and the other competent ministries, we are in continuous contact with Brussels, the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space, and the Commission to implement our intention,” he added.

He noted that the Commission will assign specific officers to each member state so that “the plan we develop will comply with the Commission’s criteria, to ensure that it is submitted correctly, approved, and implemented.”

(Source: CNA)