Financial Times reports France’s push to exclude the UK from the EU’s €150bn
arms-reconstruction fund Safe has backfired, leaving France with €15.1bn of the
€16.2bn it applied for, three people familiar told the paper. The roughly €1.1bn
shortfall reflected projects linked to the UK failing to meet strict eligibility
rules France had promoted, the sources said. The disqualified work included
projects involving missile-maker MBDA; MBDA’s UK and French units jointly
produce the long‑range Storm Shadow missile used by Ukraine.