On February 13 in Munich, Chancellor Friedrich Merz opened the 62nd Munich Security Conference and joined other European leaders in urging a renewed push for "strategic autonomy." The remarks, photographed and reported by Xinhua, came amid a growing sense in European capitals that the continent must be less dependent on external powers for its security, technology and energy needs.
The call for autonomy is less a rejection of alliances than an admission of fragility. Europe’s leaders framed the debate around three linked vulnerabilities: the shock of Russia’s war in Ukraine, supply-chain weaknesses revealed by the pandemic, and a shifting U.S. strategic focus toward the Indo‑Pacific. Taken together, those pressures have convinced many in Europe that relying on partners alone will not guarantee the capacity to act decisively in crises.
What this means in practice is a mix of defence, industrial and diplomatic measures. Expect renewed arguments for pooled procurement of weapons, more concerted industrial policy to protect and develop critical technologies, and policies to secure energy and supply chains. Such changes require money and political cohesion: defence integration and industrial subsidies will force hard choices about budgets, procurement rules and relations with long-standing trade partners.
The push for autonomy also carries geopolitical trade-offs. European policymakers insist they seek complementarity with NATO and the United States rather than strategic decoupling. Yet a more capable and independent Europe could complicate transatlantic coordination over burden‑sharing and foreign policy priorities, especially if member states pursue divergent policies toward China or Russia.
Bringing rhetoric into reality will be difficult. Member states differ widely in threat perceptions, industrial capacity and willingness to spend. The Munich consensus—calling for stronger autonomy—now needs conversion into concrete proposals: binding procurement frameworks, pooled financing mechanisms and coordinated technology standards. Absent those, the phrase "strategic autonomy" risks remaining a convenient slogan rather than a strategy.