Conceptualising European Strategic Autonomy : A Qualitative Content Analysis of ESA Understandings in Finland and Sweden

Sammanfattning: European Strategic Autonomy (ESA) has become one of the key concepts in the European security debate. Its essential meaning is that European states need to collectively ensure their autonomy to act independently of external parties in the wake of unfolding geopolitical shifts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, given the complex nature of cooperation in Europe, Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU) have different understandings of how ESA should be pursued. This divergence has led to an elusiveness of the concept, both in the World of policy and academia, which is problematic as it has hindered cooperative developments. This thesis systematically investigates how two Member States in the EU, Finland and Sweden, understand ESA. Given ESA’s lack of theorisation, an ‘ESA model’ has been developed that has helped measure the two cases’ respective understandings. ESA has traditionally been limited to the policy area of defence, however, in line with the current broader understanding of ESA, this thesis also considers energy and economy. In doing so, this thesis gives a more nuanced picture of the two countries respective ESA understandings. The findings show that both Finland and Sweden are strongly in favour of ESA measures for energy, Russia’s energy leverage over the EU being the main explanation. Both countries are also in favour of ESA measures for economy, to avoid being vulnerable to China’s growing assertiveness; however, unlike energy and Russia, both Finland and Sweden also emphasise the importance of maintaining trade with China that is beneficial for companies in the respective countries. Both countries are more circumspect towards ESA measures for defence. This is especially the case for Sweden which strongly emphasises the importance of a robust defence relationship with the United States.