Reimagine and reconstruct : Analysis on the discourses regarding the European defence industrial collaboration and implications for the European project

Abstract

The defence industry has traditionally been considered a national priority, whereas joint defence industry has received little attention in the collective discourses on European security. Over the course of the past few years the arguments for strengthening the European defence industry have become more accentuated, especially as the war in Ukraine has made it clear how unprepared European nations were for a large-scale crisis. Concepts such as strategic autonomy for Europe and reduced dependencies from third countries especially with regards to critical security and defence technologies are particularly important in these arguments. In this master’s thesis the European leadership’s narratives on building a stronger defence industrial base in Europe are studied. The primary research question of the thesis is: how does the European leadership argue and justify the need for the strengthening of the European defence industry cooperation? The secondary research question is: in particular, what role does the concept of strategic autonomy play in this process? The research will focus on studying and analysing the policy decisions, strategy papers and communications as well as the EU leadership’s addresses and speeches on the European defence industrial cooperation published over the time period of 2013-2024. In particular, the analysis will focus on the justifications presented for strengthening the European defence industrial collaboration. The theoretical framework for the research is based on integration theories, in particular the neofunctionalist approach of supranationalism, as an explanatory tool for the EU institutions’, and especially the Commission’s role in defining the direction for European security and defence policies. The research methods used in the analysis are critical discourse analysis as well as content analysis. These methods are valid tools for studying how the arguments for a stronger European defence industry were built and what role can the concept of strategic autonomy be considered having played in this process.

The key findings of the study suggest that there is evidence in the research material that support the notion of increased EU leadership’s role in emphasising the need for a unified and strengthened European defence industry. Furthermore, the research findings suggest that there are several ways how the European leadership is arguing and justifying the need for strengthening the European defence industry cooperation, such as the dangerous geopolitical context around Europe as well as the region’s need to protect its citizens. The various arguments on the complexities and variables affecting European security and the EU’s position in the current world political context were identified as forming also the justifications for building a unified and robust defence industry collaboration. Also, as a finding of the study it can be said that the concept of strategic autonomy is included in many of the arguments presented in the analysed material. Based on the analysed research material it can be concluded that there has seen a significant shift in the European leadership’s views towards building a stronger European defence industry collaboration, and the thematic is addressed with a sense of urgency. Over the observed time period of 2013 to 2024 the EU leadership’s arguments in favour of strengthening the European defence collaboration have become stronger. As the geopolitical situation surrounding Europe continues to stay tense, this development can be expected to maintain its course on the rhetorical but also policy-making level. This will also emphasize the need for further academic research on the subject in order to understand the current and future developments and dynamics in the European defence industry collaboration.