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The Role of Strategic Autonomy in the EU Green Transition

Author

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  • Susanna Paleari

    (IRCrES (Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth)—CNR (National Research Council of Italy), Via Corti, 12, 20133 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

The European Green Deal (EGD) is the cornerstone of a strategic package (EGD Strategic Framework; EGDSF), which aims to make the EU a climate-neutral and competitive economy by 2050. The green transition planned by the EGD has been affected by relevant external shocks, which have highlighted Europe’s vulnerabilities in key strategic sectors. In this context, EU strategic autonomy (SA) has increasingly become a recurring element of the EGDSF. This article aims to provide a better understanding of the role of SA within the EGDSF and investigate whether it supports the EGD’s environmental ambitions. Based on an in-depth qualitative analysis of the EGDSF, it examines the specific purposes that, via SA, the EU wants to achieve and provides a categorisation of the related implementation measures. It emerges that SA objectives embedded into the EGDSF have been shaped in support of EGD goals but that some trade-offs may arise depending on the implementation measures selected to meet the former. In particular, current measures that promote self-sufficiency and the extension of environmental requirements to foreign businesses/products accessing the EU market raise some environmental, economic, and social concerns, which can be partly addressed through a stronger and more comprehensive EGD external dimension.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanna Paleari, 2024. "The Role of Strategic Autonomy in the EU Green Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:6:p:2597-:d:1361556
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Nebasifu, Ayonghe A. & D'Amato, Dalia & Ekström, Hanna & Pietarinen, Niina & Fridén, Alexia & Harrinkari, Teemu & Iliev, Bogomil & Brownell, Huntley & May, Wilhelm & Brockhaus, Maria & Thomsen, Marian, 2025. "Comparing Nordic forest governance: Key informant perspectives," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Lyudmila Davidenko & Alexey Titkov & Nurzhanat Sherimova & Ansagan Beisembina, 2024. "Economic Aspects of Sustainable Development: Eco-Branding in Manufacturing Enterprises from Kazakhstan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-28, December.
    4. Andrzej Graczyk & Paweł Brusiło & Alicja Małgorzata Graczyk, 2025. "Hydrogen as a Renewable Fuel of Non-Biological Origins in the European Union—The Emerging Market and Regulatory Framework," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-39, January.

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