The priority of the Polish Presidency in the Council of the European Union is the completion of work on the EU program of 150 billion euros for reinforcement loans, preferably in May – the Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański said on Monday in Brussels. According to the EU source, the peak with Great Britain will be a breakthrough on May 19.
A defensive agreement is to be signed during the EU summit with Great Britain in London. As the PAP interlocutor emphasized, the British will gain access to the EU loan program, which means that together with the member states and Ukraine They will be able to participate in joint defense orders.
Work on the regulation establishing the SAFE loan package is currently underway in the EU Council. It was expected that a breakthrough in the work was to take place at a meeting of finance ministers on Tuesday.
A few days for “even better conditions”
Domański emphasized that the point is for the proposal to be “refined to take into account all the interests of European countries as possible”.
– Our priority is that work on this program ends during the Polish presidency, preferably in May – said the minister. – These few additional days will allow you to get even better conditions, also for the Polish arms industry, and we will also talk about it tomorrow during the meeting – he noted. On Tuesday in Brussels, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecin) will gather, which Domański will lead in connection with the Polish presidency.
– Of course, there are discussions on details regarding percentages regarding the involvement of individual countries, individual blocks. It is not my role to enter the role of negotiators, while our goal number one is to build a strong European, including in particular the Polish, arms industry – said Domański. He clarified that it was about cooperation with countries outside the EU.
Meeting with the head of the EC
The Minister of Finance announced that on Monday in Brussels, representatives of Polish arms companies PGZ and WB Electronics met with the chairwoman of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The meeting took place at the second forum of the EU-Ukraine defense industry.
65 percent Armament components financed from the loan program are to come from EU or Ukraine countries. In the draft regulation, which member states in the EU Council are currently working on, it was also proposed that when purchasing more complex systems, it would be necessary to ensure full control of contractors over the project of defense equipment.
According to the EC, this will prevent the complex systems from outside the EU.
Source of the main photo: PAP/Wiktor Dąbkowski