The European Union in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2020: Whither strategic autonomy

Abstract

The Eastern Mediterranean has emerged as one of the new high-priority regions for EU foreign and security policy and an acid test for the EU's strategic autonomy. The monetization of the sizeable hydrocarbon reserves discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean about a decade ago hit the obstacles of the Cyprus problem, the crisis in Turkey's relations with Egypt and Israel, the Syrian and the Libyan civil wars. The signing of the Libyan-Turkish memorandum in November 2019 triggered further destabilization through the proliferation of Greek-Turkish disputes over the delimitation of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) from the Aegean to the Eastern Mediterranean. The recent escalation of Greek-Turkish maritime disputes and the Cyprus problem occurred at a time the debate on Europe's ‘strategic autonomy’ was burgeoning. Investing in European strategic autonomy was considered indispensable for successfully promoting European interests and values in the European neighbourhood and beyond. Yet, despite repeated political pledges on a more robust and coherent EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the establishment of institutions aiming to promote and serve common EU security and diplomatic interests, the European Union has been accused of lacking resolve and leadership in a crisis involving sovereign rights of two of its member states. The European Union was accused of either siding with the interests of individual member states or failing to take a clear stance on issues of primary significance. Some viewed that the European Union could not have a meaningful contribution to conflict resolution in the Eastern Mediterranean, as it was not a ‘neutral broker’: it had to side with its member states and defend their interests. Others argued that the European Union was unable to communicate a clear and coherent message to actors undermining key norms of the liberal international order such as respect for international law and the use of peaceful means for conflict resolution. This article is based on primary and secondary sources identifying the concept of ‘strategic autonomy’ and exploring how EU foreign policymaking has been tested in one of the most significant recent regional crises, affecting key EU security and diplomatic interests and whether the goal of EU strategic autonomy, as raised in several public statements and policy documents of the European Union has come any closer.