Among others, the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias, during his appearance at the side event "Innovation on the Frontlines" organized by the Hellenic Center for Defense Innovation (ELKAK) in collaboration with Endeavor as part of the Panathinaikos event.
Mr. Dendias pointed out that the European Union is a significant market and will spend a great deal of money on defense in the coming years. However, he expressed some of his disagreements regarding the way the EU has chosen to allocate these funds
“I am an outspoken critic of the SAFE regulation, and I dare say I am absolutely right about this,” the Minister of National Defense stated emphatically.
According to him, “what the European Union did with the SAFE 1 regulation is pour money into demand when Europe is facing a supply problem. Europe lacks production lines for products, and especially for new defense technology products.”
“So, by saying, ‘I’m subsidizing demand since production lines haven’t been established,’ and setting a target date of 2030 for product production, are we actually doing that?”We’re raising the price of existing products, even though they should only be produced on existing production lines. Who can build a complete production line in Europe, finish it, and deliver a product by 2030? These are ridiculous ideas,” he emphasized.
The outlook for SAFE 2
Mr. Dendias then referred to SAFE 2, stating that “we must prepare for the SAFE 2 regulation and we must be able to establish production lines, particularly for new-technology products, so that we can meet the demand that will continue to exist in Europe in the coming years.”
“That is the challenge. So, for this, we need expertise from partners—that is, people who want to come and form a partnership with us and produce by transferring technology to Greece,” he concluded.