Canada’s SAFE participation could ease reliance on US defence supply chains

Canada’s participation in the EU’s SAFE program could help the country diversify away from US defence suppliers, European People’s Party lawmaker Riho Terras told Euractiv.

Terras, who is leading a delegation from the European Parliament’s defence committee in Canada until Friday, said the country remains closely tied to the United States on defence procurement despite growing interest in closer cooperation with Europe.

Terras stressed that Canada’s defence ecosystem has long been structurally tied to the United States.

“It has been till now mainly very intertwined with US defence industry. And most of the companies working here are the companies of the US and joint ventures between Canada and the US,” he noted.

“What they can gain from SAFE is working together with European companies to increase their own defence capability procurement and to diversify it,” he explained.

At the same time, the Estonian MEP stressed that “Canada’s own defence industry is…