Conclusion

This book has provided an alternative analysis of the state of European foreign and security policy, based on a broader understanding of key terms: European integration, strategic autonomy and security. We wanted to show how the meaning of European strategic autonomy changes when a broader understanding of these concepts is applied. The analysis has illustrated how a better understanding of the interlinkage between the various formal and informal and internal and external initiatives that are occurring simultaneously gives us a more accurate picture of the status of European strategic autonomy. Chapter 2 provided an overview of the relevant academic literature and showed why existing IR theories are not sufficient to capture and explain the multi-actorness of the broader European foreign and security policy. We then demonstrated why the existing literature of multi-level governance and DI also applies a narrow understanding of EU integration and security, and that we need to include both formal and informal, as well as internal (EU) and external (non-EU) processes in order to fully capture European strategic autonomy. To fill these gaps, we presented an alternative conceptual framework, which we then applied to analyse Europe’s role as a foreign policy actor (Chapter 3 ), its role in regional defence integration (Chapter 4 ), and its role as a builder of regional security (Chapter 5 ). The analysis in these three empirical chapters has enabled us to better capture the dynamics of today’s increasingly complex European integration process, characterised by opt-outs and opt-ins, formal and informal processes, enhanced cooperation, and various forms of governance led by actors at different levels and with different types of relations to the EU. In this chapter, we will present some concluding reflections.