Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Podcast

Europe on a power trip

  • With Joe Biden as US president-elect, does the French concept of 'strategic autonomy' for the EU still hold water? (Photo: Helena Malikova)

"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.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Nowadays the term also includes the power in trade and technology that Europe needs 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.

Author bio

EU Scream is the progressive politics podcast from Brussels. Produced by James Kanter with graphics by Helena Malikova and music by Lara Natale.

You may also follow via @euscreams subscribe via iTunes, Spotify or from the EU Scream website.

Apostles of intersectionality challenge Europe

Intersectionality is the concept that overlapping identities — disability, gender, race and sexual-orientation for example — create forms of discrimination that can go unaddressed. But many EU leaders are wary of the kind of identity politics that intersectionality implies.

Online violence: Stories from Bulgaria and Spain

Bigots and far-right extremists are using online violence to try to silence feminists and LGBT people. It's a cowardly tactic since perpetrators don't even have to meet their targets. We hear stories from two Europeans on the receiving end

Ylva Johansson on Migration and Drama Queens

Commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson, would like to win the approval of all EU member states for a new proposal for a common asylum and migration policy — something her predecessors failed to do.

Corruption in the family

In this episode, a Socialist MEP gives a first-hand account of being obstructed and misled by two of the prime suspects in the Qatargate scandal. She also shares her feelings of vindication now that the truth is coming out.

Mars, god of war, returns to Europe

Political scientist David Rowe has been looking into why so much of Europe wasn't ready for Putin — and the consequences for the Western allies of not spilling their own blood in Ukraine.

Ethics after Qatargate

The dumpster fire at the European Parliament may be largely of the EU's own making.

Mars, god of war, returns to Europe

Political scientist David Rowe has been looking into why so much of Europe wasn't ready for Putin — and the consequences for the Western allies of not spilling their own blood in Ukraine.

Ethics after Qatargate

The dumpster fire at the European Parliament may be largely of the EU's own making.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us