Normative contestation, procedural consensus: the dual politics of EU autonomy narratives in defence, economics and digital policy.
Is the European Union's much-discussed geopolitical/geo-economic turn towards autonomy more than rhetoric, and how can it be assessed across policy domains? This article argues that the EU's autonomy agenda rests less on normative consensus than on procedural alignment at the level of policy instrum...
| Publicado en: | International Affairs Vol. 102; no. 4; pp. 1139 - 1159 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195222513&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195222513 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00205850 INA jtl: International Affairs issn: 00205850 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 102 iid: 4 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195222513 10.1093/ia/iiag085 ppf: 1139 ppct: 20 formats: tig: atl: Normative contestation, procedural consensus: the dual politics of EU autonomy narratives in defence, economics and digital policy. aug: au: Hoeffler, Catherine affil: University of Geneva, rue des Vieux-Grenadiers 10, 1205 Genève, Switzerland su: European Union Economic policy Political autonomy Military policy Political competition Policy analysis Consensus (Social sciences) High technology industries Narration sug: subj: Economic policy Political autonomy Military policy Political competition Policy analysis Consensus (Social sciences) European Union High technology industries Narration keyword: copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs copyrightYear:2026 Digital sovereignty inLanguage:en open strategic autonomy publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag085 strategic autonomy strategic narratives copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs copyrightYear:2026 Digital sovereignty inLanguage:en open strategic autonomy publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag085 strategic autonomy strategic narratives ab: Is the European Union's much-discussed geopolitical/geo-economic turn towards autonomy more than rhetoric, and how can it be assessed across policy domains? This article argues that the EU's autonomy agenda rests less on normative consensus than on procedural alignment at the level of policy instruments. Drawing on literatures on strategic narratives and ideational approaches to policy change, it distinguishes between two dimensions of autonomy narratives: a normative dimension concerning the meaning and goals of autonomy for the EU, and a procedural dimension concerning how autonomy should be operationalized through policy instruments. Empirically, the article examines EU defence, economic and digital policy since 2019, and identifies two competing autonomy narratives: an Interdependent Union narrative emphasizing the need to govern interdependence and relying on regulatory, market-oriented instruments, and a Sovereign Union one, defining autonomy as self-sufficiency and focusing on domestic capacity-building through fiscal commitments and industrial policy. The central claim is that EU policy-makers continue to compete over the ends of autonomy while converging on procedural solutions, particularly regulatory instruments. This convergence occurs not because they share a common vision, but because regulatory tools can accommodate divergent strategic projects, avoid redistributive conflicts and increasingly serve capacity-building purposes. This finding challenges accounts that interpret regulatory continuity as evidence of modest change, showing instead how the EU advances its turn through procedural compromise while deeper questions about its strategic identity remain contested. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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