ISSUE: 1/2025

  • Volume 29
  • Number 1
  • 2025

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Studia Europejskie –
Studies in European Affairs

ISSN: 1428-149X
e-ISSN: 2719-3780

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Articles published in the journal are under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Development Of Scientific Journals

Publication co-financed by Ministry of Science and Higher Education pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Science of 3 August 2021 (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 1514) on the “Development of Scientific Journals” programme.

Publikacja dofinansowana przez Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego na podstawie rozporządzenia Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z 3 sierpnia 2021 r. (Dz. U. z 2021 r. poz. 1514) w sprawie programu „Rozwój czasopism naukowych”.

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Publication co-financed by the University of Warsaw within the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” programme.

Czasopismo otrzymało dofinasowanie w ramach Programu „Inicjatywa Doskonałości – Uczelnia Badawcza”.

Building Strategic Autonomy in the European Union

Abstract

European Strategic Autonomy is a key concept designed to strengthen the European Union’s (EU) international actorness and influence its policymaking practices. It offers a framework for guiding the EU’s initiatives in areas deemed strategically significant for Europe, outlining contexts, desired outcomes, and appropriate actions. This article seeks to contribute to the expanding body of research on strategic autonomy by examining the emerging aspect of this concept – namely, its practical implementation across policy areas. It addresses the research question: What concrete steps is the EU taking to build its strategic autonomy in practice? This article illustrates how the EU actively pursues strategic autonomy across various policy domains through a combination of four key actions: enhancing its capacity; mitigating vulnerabilities; fostering situational awareness; and cultivating partnerships. It provides an analysis of the EU’s strategic autonomy-building efforts, featuring concrete examples from eight distinct policy domains. The analysis is grounded in a qualitative content analysis of over 260 EU sources from 2013 to 2024.

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Rekowski, M. (2025) "Building Strategic Autonomy in the European Union". Studia Europejskie – Studies in European Affairs, 1/2025, pp. 249-271. DOI: 10.33067/SE.1.2025.13

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