OTTAWA, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Canada has reached an agreement to join the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, which will give Canadian defense companies expanded access to the European market, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said on Monday.

“Canada’s participation in SAFE will fill key capability gaps, expand markets for Canadian suppliers, and attract European defence investment into Canada,” Carney said in a statement.

SAFE – a 150-billion-euro rearmament fund announced earlier this year – is part of a major drive to get the European Union ready to defend itself by 2030 amid fears of a Russian attack and doubts about U.S. protection.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Leslie Adler)