EuropeChats – European Strategic Autonomy

In this new episode of #EuropeChats, we’re analysing the newest buzzword in Brussels: "European Strategic Autonomy". We discuss the reasons why this new term arose: we live in an increasingly hostile global environment, and we have faced multiple crises in recent years, from the subprime crisis through the refugee crisis and Brexit, as well as the COVID crisis, and these have revealed weaknesses in our system that require the EU to become more resilient, more powerful, and more autonomous. 

We also discuss what exactly does this term mean, and how does it affect the EU as it currently exists? What practical applications of the concept of Strategic Autonomy should the EU try to achieve in the fields of trade policy, medical supplies, defence and digitalisation in the next decade? 

We discover what that new resilience might look like, how it might affect policy, and what this means for the EU on the world stage. Can the EU be a serious geopolitical actor? Can strategic autonomy strengthen the defense of European values against authoritarian regimes outside Europe? Can Europe become an innovation centre on par with Silicon Valley or China? And, most controversially of all, does strategic autonomy mean the EU should have a European Army? 

We’re discussing these topics and many more! Check it out! 

EuropeChats with Jim Cloos & Mariam Khotenashvili is the flagship podcast of TEPSA and it is part of the TEPSA Podcast Channel “Europe Speaks”  

Music: Worakls, 22 September 2014, Salzburg, Hungry music