9 November 2020
“Strategic autonomy” has become the mantra for European Union officials. It started as a broadly French idea: that Europe needs sufficient military power to promote peace and security independent of the US. Nowadays the term also includes the power in trade and technology that Europe is seeking to avoid getting squeezed by China and America. But with Joe Biden as US president-elect, and prospects for a renewal of trans-Atlantic ties, the urgency and relevance of the concept are again up for debate.
Nathalie Tocci wrote the European Global Strategy that gave the concept of strategic autonomy its prominence. She says strategic autonomy should remain a guiding principle for Europe, even after Donald Trump leaves the White House. Another challenge for strategic autonomy comes from EU member states with liberal economic and internationalist outlooks. Financial Times Brussels reporter Mehreen Khan talks about the implications of strategic autonomy for Europe’s free traders, the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, and the durability of Europe’s soft power credentials.
This episode of EU Scream is sponsored by Google. The pandemic has hit European small and medium sized businesses hard. That’s why Google is offering free tools and training to help businesses in Europe grow. For more information go to g.co/growwithgoogle
