Today @eucopresident will give his third keynote speech on "strategic autonomy" in as many weeks. EU leaders will likely declare that strategic autonomy is a "key objective" of the Union. But what do these Greek-derived words mean? Our newsletter today👇bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
Judging from the draft of the summit’s conclusions, strategic autonomy means, first of all, relative autarky (here’s another Greek word) in certain sensitive industries. Here’s more from our Supply Lines trade newsletter last week: bloomberg.com/news/newslette…
This protectionist push may seem weird. In his #UNGA speech, Michel explained that it’s partly a reaction to a world where might makes right and in which rules aren’t respected. It’s what has been described in International Relations as (last Greek word) kraterocracy:
Here's a concrete example of what strategic autonomy means in practice: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Earlier this month, in its first ever “Strategic Foresight” report, which seeks to prepare policy makers for the challenges of the future, the European Commission said the EU's “economic sovereignty is at stake” due to its reliance on critical imports bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
And this is why the push for strategic autonomy has elevated circular economy and green policies into a top security priority: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
But it's not just resource efficiency. The push for strategic autonomy may also be reflected in future legislation that would protect European companies from foreign takeovers: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
So, if I read Michel's speech right, in addition to all of the stuff mentioned above (critical materials autarky), the purpose of the `strategic autonomy' push is the export European standards, values and norms to the rest of the world:
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.