By Langjia Zeren

Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron warned the military that Europe must "wake up" and reduce its security dependence on the US, and once again called for strengthening European defense autonomy. Macron made these remarks at a time when Greenland had become a focal point of global political and strategic attention following Donald Trump's return to the White House. Macron believes that Donald Trump, after his return to the White House, is highly likely to revert to isolationism, making this a crucial moment for Europe's strategic awakening. He emphasized that Europe must become the defender of national sovereignty and take control of the destiny of the continent.

His warning is not unfounded, especially given Europe's complex security environment, where building defense autonomy has become increasingly important. However, achieving defense autonomy requires not only addressing short-term goals but also considering long-term strategic interests. Although Russia is currently regarded as Europe's "greatest security threat," the positions of European countries on defense autonomy vary. In particular, once the Ukraine crisis ends and the Russian threat diminishes, whether Europe will still have the internal drive to advance defense autonomy remains uncertain.

In reality, Europe faces two choices regarding defense autonomy: either continue paying the US for security guarantees or build an independent defense force—an option that may be more costly and face opposition from some countries. Advancing European defense autonomy is fraught with challenges, as it requires a thorough assessment of Europe's current defense capabilities, cooperation frameworks, and political will.

Firstly, European countries have long been heavily reliant on the US for security through NATO and the US military presence plays a crucial role in deterring external threats to Europe. This reliance has led many European countries to maintain persistently low defense budgets. Although the EU's defense spending reached a record high of over €320 billion in 2024, it remains insufficient. Beyond increasing defense budgets, coordinating the military capabilities of different countries is also a major challenge Europe must address in advancing defense autonomy.

Secondly, Europe's military cooperation framework still needs to be further strengthened. Currently, the EU enhances military capabilities and promotes joint procurement through cooperation frameworks such as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and the European Defense Fund (EDF). PESCO enables member states to jointly undertake specific projects aimed at developing collective military capabilities, while EDF seeks to streamline funding processes and foster research, technology, and industrial cooperation in defense. However, the success of these initiatives depends on whether member states have a clear political will and effective administrative structures. At present, PESCO and EDF are often constrained by political differences among member states and concerns over sovereignty.

Moreover, the political will of European countries remains one of the key obstacles to advancing defense autonomy. Currently, European countries have failed to reach a consensus on defense priorities. Poland and the Baltic countries view Russia as the "greatest threat," while Mediterranean countries are more focused on migration issues, leading to conflicting defense strategy priorities, which makes it difficult to achieve a unified defense strategy in the short term. In other words, EU member states still need to make efforts in political cooperation and trust-building to enhance collective defense awareness and strengthen a shared defense identity.

It is evident that while Macron's call for strengthening European defense autonomy is highly relevant, Europe must confront multiple challenges both internally and externally. This is not only a matter of funding and military capabilities but also depends on the political commitment, willingness to cooperate, and long-term strategic goals of defense construction of the member countries. Therefore, European defense autonomy remains an arduous task.

(The author is from the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)

Editor's Note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.