The Spanish Presidency of the EU advocates for an open strategic autonomy at the UCLM

Strategic autonomy in the European Union refers to the need to plan community policies that make it possible to be less dependent on third parties in matters relating to defence, energy or business. It is a "long-term idea, and not so much a day-to-day one, but rather a concept for the next 20, 30, 40 or 50 years", said Lucas González, acting director of the European Commission in Spain, during an event held at the headquarters of the University of Castilla La Mancha in Toledo. 

The conference was organised by the association Ideas y Debate in collaboration with the State Secretariat for the European Union (SEUE). The opening ceremony was attended by the academic coordinator of the conference, Fátima Guadamillas, the acting dean of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences, Fernando Sánchez-Mayoral, the deputy mayor of Toledo, José Manuel Velasco, and the president of Ideas y Debate, Miguel Ángel Benedicto.  

For Lucas González, the European Commission's priorities in today's geopolitical world are the ecological and digital transition, actions in security and defence, and in the industrial and business area. The Director of the European Commission participated in the first round table on "Open strategic autonomy: a vision of Spain and Europe", together with Eduardo Corchero, Deputy Director of Strategy and Prospects of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, moderated by Gonzalo Velasco, Ambassador of BETA Europe.

González defended the importance of "Europe's positioning in an environment where it coexists with other forces that look after its interests", a positioning that must bring together the national interests of the member states on the basis of cooperation. "There are two strong poles, China and the United States; Europe has to know what it wants to be when it grows up", he stressed.  

In the areas of the digital and ecological transitions, Brussels defends the transformation driven in both fields. "I don't think there could be a country more interested than Spain in strategic energy autonomy", González stressed. In the case of defence, "a policy that is not common but coordinated", it is advocated "to invest better" and to do so in a consensual manner among the different states, so that the "enormous funds" that are used in these areas have an impact on the collective security of the vast EU territory.  

For its part, the economic dynamics of the EU are encountering a situation marked by inflation and high interest rates. Furthermore, "we are not capable of being autonomous in industry and manufacturing, and for this we have to look for reliable partners, to get closer to regions of the world with similar values and objectives, as we are doing, taking advantage of the Spanish presidency, with South America", said González, "the most Euro-compatible region", as defined by Corchero, who highlighted "the potential for diversification" that the area offers Europe in terms of international trade. 

"How to articulate state aid and competition", two of the regulatory frameworks that decide part of the fate of companies, can determine the international success of European conglomerates. Giving a "big role to large companies" could expand them beyond the EU with the consequent prejudice to the internal market; opening up competition, on the other hand, would dilute the growth potential of companies.

In Spain's case, "openness" is "at the heart of its strategic vision". Autonomy is conceived "not as a means, but as an end to protect the rights and principles of the Union", Corchero said. 

The foreign affairs representative explained that his office's role within the ministry "is not to be framed in a vertical structure" but to provide "a transversal and strategic approach, to propose a long-term vision" and recalled that the search for consensus is the essential ingredient of the Union". 

On the size of the club and the way in which it operates in relation to other major players on the global stage, Corchero referred to Europe as "a herbivore in a world of carnivores" and wondered whether it should "follow the same path as the classic superpowers", recalling that the Union, in contrast to the great hegemonies, does not have in "its nature to close in on itself in order to project itself outwards". 

The second panel discussed the EU's climate and industrial leadership. Ana Barreira, Director of the International Institute of Law and Environment (IIDMA), said that by 2022 "the EU will be able to generate 22% of its electricity with solar and wind energy alone". It will only be a little more than a fifth of all production, but it is a great advance, considering that the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU, and it should be remembered that Scotland generated 90% of its electricity with energy from renewable sources in the same year, 2022.  For the Dean of Schiller University, Jesús Soto, "we have to reduce carbon emissions, but we have to accept the differences", and Barreira points to China's lack of commitment to reducing these emissions.  Another topical issue that came up in the debate moderated by the journalist from the Toledo Diocesan TV Channel, Ana Isabel Jiménez, was the investigation of China by the European Commission for aid to electric vehicles and the struggle between competition policy and industrial policy, in which Jesús Soto wondered whether "we should give up not having national champions in order to have a European champion that could compete with players such as the USA, China, India or the BRICS+".  

At the last round table, Juan Luis Manfredi, Prince of Asturias Professor at Georgetown, and Mónica Puente, Professor of Applied Economics at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), moderated by Manuel Villasalero, from the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of Ciudad Real (UCLM), debated the "Global economic power of the European Union". For Manfredi, "the EU must be an active and proactive player in the future. It must be aware of its energy, economic and other dependencies, in order to know how to respond accordingly. This means taking into account both short term and medium and long term policies. This will make the Union better prepared for the challenges ahead.  The EU, according to Manfredi, also focused on "implementing political and economic sanctions and an industrial policy where it showed that the EU was present at the geopolitical level". 

Another issue that Puente and Manfredi debated was the enlargement of the EU to 30, which President Ursula von der Leyen is seeking, and which they both see as complicated. According to Puente, on an economic level, Ukraine, Serbia, Moldova and Georgia would have a per capita income of between 4,800 and 9,200 dollars in 2021, all of which are below European standards, but criteria of a social nature and respect for the rule of law must also be taken into account to avoid problems such as those of Hungary and Poland. For Manfredi, enlargement should not be carried out out of compassion, but rather out of conviction. According to Puente, we are still debating whether we need further deepening or integration with a common budget or whether we should continue with intergovernmentalism. 

Gonzalo Velasco, Ambassador BETA Europe.