The European Commission has approved a €15.1 billion credit for… (млрд · франция · фонд)
The European Commission has approved a €15.1 billion credit for France under the EU's SAFE (Security Action for Europe) defense program, according to the Financial Times citing three informed sources, instead of the €16.2 billion requested by Paris.
Consensus
- France requested a €16.2 billion loan from the EU's SAFE defense fund
- The European Commission approved only €15.1 billion for France
- The reduction was due to strict criteria that France had promoted to limit British access to the fund
- Some projects involving British companies, such as MBDA, did not meet these criteria
Points of divergence
- Britain did not sign an agreement with the EU regarding participation in SAFE after negotiations failed over France's demand for more than €6 billion from London to access the fund — vedomosti
- The article does not mention Britain's refusal to sign any agreement or specific financial demands made by France during negotiations — vesti
- France required that 65% of product costs come from the EU single market (including Norway and Iceland) or Ukraine, with only 35% allowed for third countries unless they had signed partnership agreements — kommersant
Coverage (3 sources)
- FT: France's attempt to limit UK access to the SAFE fund failed — Ведомости
- FT: France missed EU defense loan due to its own demands — Вести
- FT: Exclusion of the UK from the EU defence fund backfired on France — Коммерсантъ