Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the European Union on payments to the EU for participation in Security Action for Europe.

UK negotiations with the EU on a bilateral agreement to facilitate UK participation in the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument concluded last year. The UK entered negotiations in good faith, recognising our mutual strategic interest and commitment to work with the EU on defence. However, this Government has always been clear that we will only sign agreements that are in the national interest - in this case we were unable to reach an agreement that passed that test. While it is disappointing that we were not able to positively conclude discussions, the UK’s defence industry continues to have access to SAFE under standard third country terms.