Abstract

In recent years, significant steps have been taken to move the Common Foreign and Security Policy in a direction that seeks to bring the Union closer to the undefined notion of strategic autonomy. The measures adopted share a common objective: the improvement of the EU’s operational capacity so that Member States can carry out military missions outside their borders. Given the fact that none of these initiatives clarifies what strategic autonomy is, and what it consists of, the concept remains mired in doctrinal ambiguity that contrasts with its growing use. This article explores the different interpretations that are currently being discussed about this concept and exposes the basic foundations of the incipient debate on the future of European defense, a debate in which strategic autonomy plays a substantive role.