Klinova Marina Vileninovna – Sc.D. in Economics, Chief Researcher, IMEMO RAS
The article analyzes the economic aspects of the EU’s defense and space strategic autonomy. It aims to assess the current state of the EU’s defense and space economy, taking into account the difficult and unpredictable geopolitical situation, the reformatting of the world order, and deepening geoeconomic turbulence. The concept of strategic autonomy, initially applied only to the defense sphere, subsequently extended to other areas of politics and economics, including the industrial space sector. In 2025, the European Commission proposed a new Pax Europaea model for the 21st century and set a target to increase defence spending by 2030 as part of the Plan ReArm Europe. The article identifies discrepancies between the European Commission and leading EU countries in their approaches to transatlantic cooperation and in their understanding of strategic autonomy, taking into account the aspirations of EU member states to protect their national sovereignty and the interests of domestic producers in the defense and space market. The leading role of states in developing the defense and space economies through the creation of a dynamic market of business models, cross-border projects, and supranational initiatives involving private capital within the framework of public-private partnership (PPP), is noted. The Exploration Company (TEC), an ambitious international cooperation project involving the Franco-German tandem, is being considered; while cooperation with NASA is not excluded. Combining commercial and geopolitical objectives in cooperation in the defense and space economy requires political will. It is concluded that Europe is at the beginning of the path towards the declared goal of strategic autonomy.
Europe, strategic autonomy, defense and space economy, competitiveness, cooperation.
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