Abstract
2019 marked 20 years since EU Member States decided to create a joint EU approach to security and defense. The paper raises the question on finding new approaches to provide security and defense in Europe in the current context, as well as the formation of a new paradigm for research on regional security in Europe. Traditional approaches to the study of European integration (neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism) are of little use for theorizing the development of European defense in conditions of new challenges and threats to national and regional security, as well as transatlantic solidarity violations. The article studies European Strategic Autonomy (ESA), which refers to the ability of the European Union, in conjunction with Member States, to independently determine its own priorities according to which to take decisions and implement them in the fields of foreign policy, security and defense. ESA is not synonymous with independence, nor does it deny membership in military-political alliances, since a more realistic scenario implies positioning itself as a European pillar of NATO. The implementation of the idea of building a "european sovereignty" in the field of security and defense implies that the European Union should take bigger responsibility for its own security, the security of its neighbors, andshould strengthen its role in transatlantic relations without opposing NATO. In order to move from rhetoric to concrete policy steps, the EU needs to develop a plan of measures for political, institutional and industrial action. It means that achieving real autonomy requires time and joint efforts by EU institutions and Member State governments. However, political and institutional autonomy can be built exclusively within the whole Union, while military-industrial autonomy can be initiated and implemented by a group of the most economically and technologically advanced EU Member States.
Highlights
The end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the termination of the Warsaw Pact Organization, the entry of the former socialist countries of Europe into NATO and the EU created a sense of security in the EU member states due to the absence of a real opponent
At the beginning of the XXI century, Europeans whose policies after the Cold War led to gradually dismantled of their armies and to the lack of a capable security strategy are increasingly concerned about their own security because of doubts about NATO’s commitment to the transatlantic partnership
It is pushing the European Union and its Member States to rethink the current collective security mechanism and to develop new additional defense programs aimed at enhancing their strategic autonomy
Summary
The end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the termination of the Warsaw Pact Organization, the entry of the former socialist countries of Europe into NATO and the EU created a sense of security in the EU member states due to the absence of a real opponent. The strategies emphasize, firstly, on the need for EU Member States to provide technological, industrial and military capabilities for security insurance in the region and, secondly, to create a stable, innovative and competitive defense industry as a prerequisite for achieving EU Strategic Autonomy and an effective Common Security and Defense Policy. The US is considering the first steps in European defense policy as a potential threat to its dominance in both the European and third-country markets It is obvious, that the EU’s ability to act as an independent subject which is able to influencing peace and security insurance in the region and in the world as a whole depends on its ability to act independently, regardless of the capabilities of third parties, primarily the United States. Such partnership should be based on shared values in a spirit of complete mutual openness and in accordance with the decision-making autonomy of each organization and without damage to the specificity of the security and defense policies of any of its members
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