European Union

A membership perspective is, in no small degree, a symbolic gesture. But these gestures matter both to provide moral and political support to Ukrainians under attack and to undermine Putin's claims to Ukraine and the rest of the region.

Amid the pomp, and the grandness of the setting for an EU summit in Versailles, few breakthroughs were seen on how to rein in Russia's aggression in Ukraine, like the possible "war crime" at a Mariupol hospital.

The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola delivered the following statement at the informal European Council on Thursday in Versailles, France.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola delivered the following statement at the informal European Council on Thursday in Versailles, France.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Ireland has not been as badly hit by Brexit trade disruption as had been initially feared, according to government trade officials in Dublin.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday called for a full investigation into the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol, southern Ukraine, saying that it may have been a "war crime." The Russian strike, which killed three people including a child and left more than dozen injured, is "inhumane, cruel and tragic," she wrote on Twitter.

Written by Marcin Grajewski.

Many politicians and analysts have been arguing in recent years that, being highly vulnerable to external shocks, the European Union should boost its ‘strategic autonomy’ and/or develop a higher degree of ‘European sovereignty’. These concepts encompass a greater potential for independence, self-reliance and resilience in a wide range of fields – such as defence, security and trade, as well as in industrial, digital, economic, migration and health policies.

Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine gives this issue great urgency. In energy, the European Commission has now published plans to cut EU dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end its reliance on Russian supplies of the fuel well before 2030. And the debate is moving on to ideas and projects involving significantly more integration, solidarity and stronger joint security and defence. The EU’s strategic compass, a medium-term defence and security strategy, is being quickly updated to take into account the biggest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from international think tanks on the European issues related to European strategic autonomy and sovereignty.

The European Peace Facility: Supporting Ukraine and bolstering the EU’s strategic responsibility
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2022

The EU and the Ukraine war: Making sense of the rise of a ‘geopolitical’ Union
Istituto Affari Internazionali, March 2022

What Russia’s war in Ukraine means for Europe
Carnegie Europe, March 2022

Russia’s war against Ukraine ends Europe’s self-deception
Carnegie Europe, March 2022

European strategic autonomy in light of Ukraine
Clingendael, February 2022

Why the Ukraine crisis should push the UK and EU into a tighter embrace on security policy
Centre for European Policy Studies, February 2022

Could EU-endorsed ‘coalitions of the willing’ strengthen EU security policy?
Centre for European Reform, February 2022

Global Gateway: Positioning Europe for a sustainable future
Clingendael, February 2022

The return of US leadership in Europe: Biden and the Russia crisis
Istituto Affari Internazionali, February 2022

Ukrainian crisis: Rethinking security in Europe
Notre Europe: Jacques Delors Institute, February 2022

The UK must not dismiss European ‘strategic autonomy’
Chatham House, February 2022

Elevating the EU’s added value as a security provider
Foundation for Progressive European Studies, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Fondation Jean-Jaurès, January 2022

EU strategic autonomy: A perennial pipe dream?
European Policy Centre, January 2022

The European Army project: The answer to the Union’s strategic shrinkage?
Europeum, January 2022

Strategic autonomy: Not without integration
Egmont, Foundation for Progressive European Studies, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Fondation Jean-Jaurès, January 2022

Strategic Compass: Towards EU space strategy for security and defence
Polish Institute for International Affairs, January 2022

In the shadow of war: Ukraine and the limits of a ‘geopolitical’ EU
Centre for European Policy Studies, January 2022

Construire l’autonomie stratégique de l’Europe face à la Chine
Institut Jacques Delors, December 2021

The future of European strategy in a changing geopolitical environment
The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, December 2021

Strategic Autonomy: Views from the North
Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, December 2021

Strategic Compass: New bearings for EU security and defence?
European Union Institute for Strategic Studies, December 2021

Europe’s Strategic Compass: Merits and shortcomings
Istituto Affari Internazionali, December 2021

Multipolarity and EU Foreign and Security Policy: Divergent approaches to conflict and crisis response
Istituto Affari Internazionali, December 2021

The Global Gateway: A real step towards a stronger Europe in the world?
Bruegel, December 2021

The need for cooperative security In Europe
Brussels School of Governance, December 2021

European strategic autonomy in defence
Rand Corporation, November 2021

European reactions to AUKUS and implications for EU strategic autonomy
Istituto Affari Internazionali, November 2021

Instruments of a strategic foreign economic policy
Bruegel, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, DIW Berlin, November 2021

An architecture fit for strategic autonomy
Foundation for Progressive European Studies, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Fondation Jean-Jaurès, November 2021

Unpacking open strategic autonomy
Clingendael, November 2021

An architecture fit for strategic autonomy: Institutional and operational steps towards a more autonomous EU external action
Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Fondation Jean Jaures, November 2021

European strategic autonomy and Spain’s interests
Real Instituto Elcano, November 2021

L’autonomie stratégique, cet obscur objet du désir
Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques, October 2021

Building European strategic autonomy vs. Turkish strategic depth: Macron’s diplomatic gamble
Institut français des relations internationales, October 2021

Seven steps to European defence, Transatlantic equilibrium, and Global Europe
Egmont, October 2021

The Strategic Compass: Entering the fray
Egmont, September 2021

Europe’s open strategic autonomy
European Trade Union Institute, September 2021

Read this briefing on ‘EU strategic autonomy in the context of Russia’s war on Ukraine‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Moldova relies on Russian gas and it has 1,500 Russian troops fully in control of part of its territory, Transnistria. In light of the situation in Ukraine, it's all rather ominous.

On Wednesday (9 March) Parliament gave a green light for a new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work that includes better protection of workers from exposure to harmful substances, stress at work and repetitive motion injuries. 

Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has entered the third week with no end or victory in sight. No matter how many advances he makes on the ground - at the price of committing massive atrocities -  this is a war he cannot win and should not have started in the first place.

Germany and Hungary are the most vocal opponents of an EU import ban on Russian energy, which is staunchly supported by Poland, while France and others sit on the fence.

The European Commission stood firm in its resolve to forge ahead with the EU’s sustainable food goals in the first expert meeting on food security this week, despite growing fears around food shortages caused by the war in Ukraine.

A group of progressive MEPs are preparing to question the European Commission on why Russia’s largest technology company has been excluded from the sanctions list so far, while Baltic states are planning to raise the point in the Council discussions....

On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted three resolutions on the respective human rights situations in Myanmar, Mexico and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted three resolutions on the respective human rights situations in Myanmar, Mexico and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Sweden will invest heavily in defence in a historic move that will bring military spending in line with NATO's goal of 2% of the GDP, according to an announcement by the government on Thursday (10 March).

The EU needs to take additional steps to ensure people with disabilities have greater access to jobs and rights across the bloc, Sophie Cluzel, the French Secretary of State in charge of people with disabilities, told her European counterparts in Paris on Wednesday (9 March).  EURACTIV France reports.

A new special committee to oversee lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and make recommendations for the future has been greenlighted by the European Parliament on Thursday (10 March).

This week, our Beyond the Byline podcast focuses on informal summit of the EU leaders this Thursday in Versailles.

Hungarian lawmakers on Thursday elected Katalin Novák, the former family affairs minister in prime minister Viktor Orbán's cabinet, as the country's first female president. Orbán-loyalist Novák, 44, was elected for a five-year term with two-thirds majority of the parliament where Orbán's Fidesz party has a legislative supermajority. Her predecessor, another Orbán-loyalist, János Áder, was known for rubber-stamping Orbán's controversial laws on migration, judiciary, civil society, and economy.