Polityczne wymiary Europejskiej Autonomii Strategicznej w kontekście relacji Unii Europejskiej z innymi potęgami

Abstract

POLITICAL DIMENSIONS OF EUROPEAN STRATEGIC AUTONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S RELATIONS WITH OTHER POWERS

The notion of European Strategic Autonomy has become well established in the dictionary of terms used by the European Union to address key challenges in European external policy. Nevertheless, the term is still contested within the EU and the debate on this issue itself is widely considered ‘toxic’. The article aims to clarify the meaning of the idea of European Strategic Autonomy by presenting the main political contexts within which it functions, which are distinguished by the criterion of reference to Europe’s relations with the other powers in the international system: the United States, the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, as well as in relation to the other countries. The article argues that the context in which the notion of strategic autonomy is interpreted influences its perception and assessment making it difficult to adopt a fixed definition. Nevertheless, as the article points out based on empirical research, including interviews with officials of European Union institutions in Brussels, a consensus is gradually forming in the European Union as to the interpretation of this concept, which is beginning to play an active role in shaping the EU’s external policy.