• EU strategic autonomy
• EU public order and security
• EU strategic security
• national security

Since its inclusion in the EU Global Strategy in 2016, the concept of “EU strategic autonomy” has imposed itself as the general framework for the external action of the European Union (EU). This has occurred within an international environment that has become increasingly contested and characterised by the deterioration of the security architecture, the weaponization of global interdependences, as well as the assertive promotion of national interests in the economic sphere.
As a result of these dynamics, the EU has progressively adapted its stance on the global stage, putting more emphasis on its own interests and security-related concerns vis-à-vis third parties. This is well represented by the adoption of the “open strategic autonomy” paradigm in EU trade policy, the pursuit of internal resilience as well as the quest for “EU sovereignty” in the technological domain.
Against this backdrop, it is possible to notice the recent elaboration of a new concept, “EU public order and security”, which has been used within the EU framework to assess the impact of these international dynamics on the EU, with particular reference to domains traditionally covered by EU strategic autonomy. Trade, foreign interference and manipulation of information (FIMI) and energy represent significant examples in this regard.
In light of the above, the work aims at understanding whether the notion of “EU strategic autonomy” has gradually been used to substantially promote the security of the EU at the internal level and, if so, what are the emerging characteristics of these new aspects of EU internal security to be protected. Drawing from the notion of “EU public order and security” set out above, the thesis argues that the progressive elaboration of a unitary concept of EU security strictly linked to the notion of “EU strategic autonomy” - on top of and complementing Member States’ national security - appears to be underway. To this aim, it proposed to adopt a new term, “EU strategic security”, in order to conceptually grasp these new developments within the EU.