By Langjia Zeren
郎加泽仁
Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron warned the military that Europe must "wake up" and reduce its security dependence on the US, and once again called for strengthening European defense autonomy. Macron made these remarks at a time when Greenland had become a focal point of global political and strategic attention following Donald Trump's return to the White House. Macron believes that Donald Trump, after his return to the White House, is highly likely to revert to isolationism, making this a crucial moment for Europe's strategic awakening. He emphasized that Europe must become the defender of national sovereignty and take control of the destiny of the continent.
近日，法国总统马克龙向军方发出警告称，欧洲要“觉醒”，减少对美国的安全依赖，并再次呼吁欧洲加强防务自主建设。马克龙发表此番讲话时，正值特朗普重返白宫后格陵兰岛成为全球政治和战略的关注焦点之际。马克龙认为，特朗普再次入主白宫，大概率会让美国重新回归孤立主义，所以这正是欧洲“战略觉醒”的关键时机。他强调说，欧洲要成为国家主权的捍卫者，主宰大陆的命运。
His warning is not unfounded, especially given Europe's complex security environment, where building defense autonomy has become increasingly important. However, achieving defense autonomy requires not only addressing short-term goals but also considering long-term strategic interests. Although Russia is currently regarded as Europe's "greatest security threat," the positions of European countries on defense autonomy vary. In particular, once the Ukraine crisis ends and the Russian threat diminishes, whether Europe will still have the internal drive to advance defense autonomy remains uncertain.
马克龙的警告并非空穴来风，尤其在当前欧洲复杂的安全环境下，防务自主建设显得愈加重要。然而，实现防务自主不仅需要考虑短期目标，更需要从长远战略利益角度考量。虽然俄罗斯目前被欧洲认为是“最大安全威胁”，但一些欧洲国家对于防务自主的立场并不相同。特别是一旦乌克兰危机结束，俄罗斯威胁减弱，欧洲是否仍有内在动力推进防务自主建设，值得怀疑。
In reality, Europe faces two choices regarding defense autonomy: either continue paying the US for security guarantees or build an independent defense force—an option that may be more costly and face opposition from some countries. Advancing European defense autonomy is fraught with challenges, as it requires a thorough assessment of Europe's current defense capabilities, cooperation frameworks, and political will.
实际上，欧洲在防务自主问题上面临着两个选择：要么继续向美国支付军费以换取安全保障；要么建设独立防务力量——但这可能更加昂贵而且会遭到部分国家的反对。推进欧洲防务自主建设困难重重，因为这需要彻底评估当前欧洲的防务能力、协作框架以及政治意愿。
Firstly, European countries have long been heavily reliant on the US for security through NATO and the US military presence plays a crucial role in deterring external threats to Europe. This reliance has led many European countries to maintain persistently low defense budgets. Although the EU's defense spending reached a record high of over €320 billion in 2024, it remains insufficient. Beyond increasing defense budgets, coordinating the military capabilities of different countries is also a major challenge Europe must address in advancing defense autonomy.
首先，欧洲国家历来严重依赖美国通过北约来保障其安全，美国的军事存在对欧洲的外部威胁起到重要的威慑作用。这种依赖导致很多欧洲国家的国防预算长期偏低。尽管2024年欧盟国防开支达到创纪录的逾3200亿欧元，但仍显不足。除增加国防预算外，如何协调各国军事能力，也是欧洲推进防务自主建设时需要面临的巨大挑战。
Secondly, Europe's military cooperation framework still needs to be further strengthened. Currently, the EU enhances military capabilities and promotes joint procurement through cooperation frameworks such as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and the European Defense Fund (EDF). PESCO enables member states to jointly undertake specific projects aimed at developing collective military capabilities, while EDF seeks to streamline funding processes and foster research, technology, and industrial cooperation in defense. However, the success of these initiatives depends on whether member states have a clear political will and effective administrative structures. At present, PESCO and EDF are often constrained by political differences among member states and concerns over sovereignty.
其次，欧洲的军事协作框架仍有待进一步强化。当前欧盟通过永久性结构合作（PESCO）和欧洲防务基金（EDF）等合作框架，增强军事能力和促进合作采购。PESCO 使成员国能够共同开展旨在发展联合军事能力的具体项目，而 EDF 旨在简化融资流程并促进国防能力的研究、技术和工业合作。然而，这些计划能否顺利开展，取决于各国是否有明确的政治意愿和有效的行政结构。目前来看，PESCO和EDF常受到成员国政治分歧和国家主权的制约。
Moreover, the political will of European countries remains one of the key obstacles to advancing defense autonomy. Currently, European countries have failed to reach a consensus on defense priorities. Poland and the Baltic countries view Russia as the "greatest threat," while Mediterranean countries are more focused on migration issues, leading to conflicting defense strategy priorities, which makes it difficult to achieve a unified defense strategy in the short term. In other words, EU member states still need to make efforts in political cooperation and trust-building to enhance collective defense awareness and strengthen a shared defense identity.
此外，欧洲国家的政治意愿也是阻碍防务自主建设的关键因素之一。当前，欧洲各国未能就防务优先事项达成一致。波兰和波罗的海国家将俄罗斯视为“最大威胁”，而地中海国家则更关注移民问题，导致防务战略优先事项冲突。这使统一的防务战略在短期内难以达成。换言之，欧盟成员国仍需要在政治合作与信任方面作出努力，以提高集体防御意识，加强集体防御认同。
It is evident that while Macron's call for strengthening European defense autonomy is highly relevant, Europe must confront multiple challenges both internally and externally. This is not only a matter of funding and military capabilities but also depends on the political commitment, willingness to cooperate, and long-term strategic goals of defense construction of the member countries. Therefore, European defense autonomy remains an arduous task.
可见，尽管马克龙呼吁欧洲加强防务自主具有现实意义，但欧洲需要面临来自内外部的多重挑战。这不仅关乎资金和军事能力，更取决于成员国间的政治承诺、合作意愿和防务建设的长期性战略目标。因此，欧洲的防务自主之路仍任重道远。
(The author is from the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)
（作者单位系中国社会科学院欧洲所）
Editor's Note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
