Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on UK's participation in the SAFE defence fund; and when he expects a decision to be made on the conditions under which UK defence firms can take part in that fund.

As part of our recent Security and Defence partnership with the EU, we have agreed to explore closer co-operation and joint investment in our defence industrial base. In the first instance, the partnership creates a basis for broad consultations on defence readiness and defence industry and also means the UK now meets the criteria for discussing participation in common procurement under SAFE.

We have set an ambition with the EU to swiftly explore possibilities for mutually beneficial cooperation under the SAFE mechanism. We will work closely with our European partners to take this, and discussion on any further areas for defence industrial cooperation, forward, in accordance with the EU’s necessary processes.