Greece needs to clarify over SAFE program, says Commission spokesperson

The letter sent to Greece regarding its proposal under the SAFE programme is part of the “normal process” in the assessment of the national plans received from member-states, requesting clarification on points where questions have arisen, European Commission spokesperson for defence issues Thomas Regnier said during the regular press briefing on Tuesday.

Replying to a question about the letter, and without going into details given the sensitive nature of the issues relating to defence spending, Regnier said this was part of a “normal process” to request additional information and stressed that “absolutely no plan has been rejected by the Commission”.

Asked whether this may lead to a delay in the first scheduled payment of 15% of the approved funds, the spokesperson said it was too soon to talk about delays and explained that the Commission’s assessment examines the extent to which the national plans meet the criteria foreseen in the regulation, adding:

“This is why we are having and will continue to have bilateral discussions with our member states. I will not quantify or qualify the amount of problems we see with plans. This is just really a normal process.”

On September 9, the European Commission approved the temporary allocation of SAFE funds amounting to 150 billion euros. The amount approved for Greece was 787.67 million euros, as opposed to the 1.2 billion euros requested in July.