Europe’s strategic autonomy: A new political ambition?

Strategic autonomy is the result of a process of political and economic survival for Europe.

Indeed, the major geopolitical, sanitary, and economic upheavals, in recent months have made us aware of the urgency to reduce Europe’s dependence and strengthen our resilience and competitiveness vis-à-vis the rest of the world. 

Europe’s approach is based on the development of strong and integrated industrial ecosystems to accompany and accelerate the transition to green and digital economies. 

Securing our economy also means guaranteeing the supply of critical resources: the production and use of hydrogen, batteries, semiconductors, healthcare products, data storage with the development of the cloud, and the strengthening of capacities in security, defense, and space – all of which is at the heart of the European strategy to strengthen its industrial autonomy.

In order to reduce our dependence and boost our competitiveness, the EU has launched a new series of initiatives: projects of common European interest (IPCEI), alliances, and investment plans to shape a new growth model.

To reinforce the EU’s leadership, the European Commission is putting in place a series of regulations to reconcile economic development and climate ambitions. Indeed, to guarantee investments in innovation and to develop new sectors such as environmental technologies, we need to set standards to lay the foundations for true technological sovereignty in Europe. We must also increase our efficiency in the use of resources and move towards a more circular economy. 

The digital transition has accelerated during the pandemic period. 

Today data is a crucial pillar of the European digital economy and will be the key to future innovation and economic growth.

The digitalisation of our economy has dramatically transformed our environment and also created new risks. With a connected single market, the creation of a European cyber security system is an absolute necessity.  

These challenges also lead us to intensify our efforts in the fields of defense and space.  Providing EU countries   with additional possibilities to enhance their technological, industrial, operational, and political capacities naturally feeds into the strengthening of their position internationally. It is also about preserving our access to space which has become essential for the functioning of our societies: “Without space sovereignty, there is no technological sovereignty,” said President Macron recently.

In 2021, the first pillars of the construction of the European Health Union have been put in place with strong measures such as the strengthening of the capacities of the EMA, the ECDC and the creation of HERA to increase resilience to cross-border health threats.

The pharmaceutical industry is indispensable and of critical importance for the European Union both in terms of innovation and economic recovery. The next revision of the pharmaceutical package aims to meet this challenge.  

In this issue, the contributors will present their thoughts on critical and strategic industrial sectors. Europe must work to optimize its needs and secure its supplies. It must diversify its global resources by creating resilient value chains to guarantee more sustainable supply. In addition, it must invest heavily in critical technologies while building a strategic reserve. We have entered a new industrial era, where global value chains become geopolitical instruments. A political paradigm shift in Europe is needed: “There is no political sovereignty without technological sovereignty”.  

Editor-in-Chief 

Laurent ULMANN