Brexit leaves UK 'more at risk' after rejecting EU demand to join £150 billion defence fund, says SNP
The EU had demanded that the UK cough up the money to be given access to the £150bn Security Action for Europe (SAFE) fund.
Brexit has left the UK “more at risk” in terms of defence, the SNP has said, after the UK government rejected a European Union request to pay €6.5 billion to join its defence fund.
The EU had demanded the UK pay the money to be given access to the £150bn Security Action for Europe (SAFE) fund.
Under the scheme British firms, such as BAE Systems and Babcock, would have been allowed to bid for contracts.
The SNP has said that being outside of the scheme will deny Scottish companies from accessing EU funds for investment in defence and does not let the country access shared defence resources.
SNP foreign affairs spokesperson Stephen Gethins said: “The people of Scotland did not vote for Brexit, but at every turn Westminster’s decision to pull us out of the EU hurts our industry and pulls on the Scottish taxpayers’ purse strings.
“Labour promised to ‘re-set’ our relationship with Europe, but it is clear that there is nothing that can substitute full membership, and that until Scotland gains independence, we will always be sitting on the outside looking in.
“The loss of the £150bn defence deal is a huge set back to the world-leading defence sector in Scotland and demonstrates once again that Westminster does not make decisions with Scotland in mind.
“As democratic Europe moves closer together as a means to protecting their national security, the UK remains isolated and on the outside and more at risk because of it.
“The EU are charging the UK to access programmes that we had free membership to before Brexit. An independent Scotland would be able to forge our own relationships with European allies inside the EU and as a full Nato member, providing the security and stability that Westminster will never be able to rebuild.”
The European Commission had suggested the UK pay between €4bn [£3.5bn] and €6.5bn [£5.7bn] to participate in the fund. It was also seeking an admin fee of €150m [£132m] to €250m [£221m], according to reports.
The programme allows EU countries to borrow money to invest in defence and is an attempt to boost defence after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A senior British official told Bloomberg the fees the European Commission was demanding were unreasonable and well above what the UK had expected. It comes after the President of the European Commission reportedly refused to meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the COP30 climate conference in Brazil.
The Financial Times reported Sir Keir wanted to meet Ursula von der Leyen over the weekend, but was told that she was too busy to see him.
The Prime Minister signed an EU reset deal in May, which he pledged would deliver cheaper food and energy for Brits.
The deal also pledged to end passport queues at European airports and to create a youth mobility scheme that would allow young people to access the EU through work, study or travel. But European fishers were granted access to British waters for an additional 12 years, which fishermen's organisations have criticised.
A UK government spokesperson said: “This is nonsense. Since coming into office, this government has made defence an engine for growth and Scotland is at the heart of the UK's defence industry. This includes through the recent sale of T26 frigates to Norway, a £10bn export deal that will guarantee jobs for 15 years.
“The UK is committed to a broad and constructive relationship with the EU and we are working together to implement the package agreed at the UK-EU Summit.
"We will only agree deals that provide value to the UK and UK industry. Nothing has been agreed and we will not give a running commentary on talks."
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