Strategic Autonomy for a Social and Sovereign Europe

The debate about strategic autonomy for a social and sovereign Europe affects various political fields of action, not only in foreign and security policy, but also in trade and industrial policy, in health and social policy and others. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed Europe's dependence on international supply chains, the global interconnectedness of the economy and the limited autonomy of the member states. The national economies of all countries are integrated into global value chains and supply networks that make autonomous production, e.g. of medicines, difficult. Oligopolistic digital infrastructure services and platforms take on a systemic role instead of democratically legitimized governments. Cross-border trade is faced with only weak or no global regulatory mechanisms. This must be countered by a new European sovereignty model that protects strategic infrastructure and, in particular, industrial relations and the European social model. This is the biggest challenge for unions.

In order to bring together the various strands of discussion within the European trade union movement and to work towards a common understanding and common political demands, the DGB and FES invited trade unionists and experts from all EU member states to a workshop. The workshop was carried out hybrid, i.e. both with presence in the conference room of the FES and with digital participation. It was the fourth forum in the annual series “Social Europe” organized by the DGB and FES.

You can read the detailed report on the conference here.