The Security Conditions of European Strategic Autonomy from a French Perspective.

Sammanfattning: The debate regarding how Europe may assert its autonomy as a political actor is crucial. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is one of the most relevant topics for European Union politics. This thesis will focus on the strategic conditions within the security and defence sector needed to assert Strategic Autonomy from the perspective of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency and leadership. Over the years the EU has implemented new institutional structures, such as the European Defence Fund, the European Intervention Initiative, and the Strategic Compass, correlating with Macron’s goals of implementing a strategic culture doctrine within the EU. Despite the progress of the European Strategic Autonomy concept there still is a major disagreement amongst the EU member states. Some members prefer a transatlantic partnership, some focus on internal development within the European Union. Using the theories of Liberal institutionalism and the principle of coherence, the purpose of this thesis is to explore and understand more about the dynamics of the conditions that could hypothetically facilitate the strategic autonomy of the European Union’s defence capabilities. The study reveals that the conditions required is based of the French national strategy of strategic autonomy,which involves a shared political, operational and industrial goal.