A strategy for nations’ best interests

Gérard Pogorel | 18th January 2022 | Brussels, Comment, Diplomacy, Magazine
CARBIS BAY, CORNWALL - JUNE 13: French President Emmanuel Macron attends a plenary session during G7 summit in Carbis Bay on June 13, 2021 in Cornwall, United Kingdom. UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, hosts leaders from the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada at the G7 Summit. This year the UK has invited India, South Africa, and South Korea to attend the Leaders' Summit as guest countries as well as the EU. (Photo by Phil Noble - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
CARBIS BAY, CORNWALL - JUNE 13: French President Emmanuel Macron attends a plenary session during G7 summit in Carbis Bay on June 13, 2021 in Cornwall, United Kingdom. UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, hosts leaders from the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada at the G7 Summit. This year the UK has invited India, South Africa, and South Korea to attend the Leaders' Summit as guest countries as well as the EU. (Photo by Phil Noble - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

True strategic autonomy will do much to strengthen the global economy for the EU and its allies

To the uninitiated, the phrase strategic autonomy seems jarringly technical. But officials in Brussels can’t get enough of it. It peppers policy documents, speeches and newspaper articles. It means independence or, even more broadly, the ability of a state to pursue its own national interests and adopt its preferred foreign policy without being dependent on or being manipulated by other foreign states. It was in 2013 that the phrase strategic autonomy started circulating, initially in the context of security and defence concerns. Three years later it was picked up in a glossy new global strategy, which was launched after the result of the Brexit referendum. This year it looks set to influence the EU on fields more varied. Global shifts EU trust in the US has not recovered since its disintegration during the Trumpian era. Poor relations with the White House forced Europe to take stock of its defence situation: it could no longer rely on its heavily armed and wealthy transatlantic cousin...

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.



Are Labour eyeing a return to the EU? Mace investigates the key players involved 

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | May 19, 2026

Recent comments by the former health secretary have plunged Brexit back into national conversation, but what does Labour actually think?

The hidden cost of doing business in the UK, and why this needs to change

Clive Wratten | May 19, 2026

The status of the UK as a leading destination for business is under threat, warns CEO Clive Wratten.

The Renters’ Right Act will bury the UK housing market, says leading UK developer Kamal Pankhania

Mace | May 19, 2026

With the UK housing market already under economic pressure, this is not the right time to introduce new rental reforms that will damage investor confidence, says Kamal Pankhania,

Governments are rich in intelligence but not capability

Nada Kakabadse | May 13, 2026

Our governments are simply not designed for the challenges we face in the modern day, warns Professor Nada Kakabadse.

Wes Streeting could be Britain’s next PM — here are the lobby groups who come with him 

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | May 12, 2026

Calls for Keir Starmer to quit are getting louder, Lucy Carrier-Pilkington examines what new leadership could mean for the lobbying industry.

Why data reform is a vital asset to businesses and national services

Chris Combemale | May 12, 2026

As marketing automation becomes more sophisticated marketers must own that responsibility, says Chris Combemale.  

Starmer faces his day of reckoning

William Cash | May 12, 2026

Starmer's future hangs in the balance as Labour prepares for a potential leadership contest.

The Death of Public Trust in Westminster

Mace | May 8, 2026

The survival of our nation depends upon rebuilding trust in government between ministers and officials, says Sir Bernard Jenkin MP

The Civil Service flexi-time scandal proves work-from-home culture has gone too far 

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | May 7, 2026

New exposé reveals civil servants have been exploiting flexible working policies at the expense of the tax payer.

EU likely to shelve chemical reform amid industry pressure 

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | May 6, 2026

The reform concerns a pre-existing law on the Regulation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and has been in place since June 2007.