ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evolution of the European Union's quest for strategic autonomy in the defence industrial domain, analysing how the concept has shifted from an aspirational framework to an operational test under the pressure of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It reconstructs the emergence and development of strategic autonomy since the early 2010s, highlighting the proliferation of EU initiatives and assessing their collective impact on capability development, industrial cooperation, and supply chain resilience. The analysis shows that the war in Ukraine constituted both a catalyst and a reality check. The chapter also places these dynamics within a shifting geopolitical environment shaped by the United States' evolving posture under the Biden and Trump administrations and by the growing influence of Nordic and Eastern European Member states within EU security governance. Ultimately, the chapter argues that the defence-industrial dimension of EU strategic autonomy remains embryonic and deeply constrained by structural factors, yet it is entering a phase in which ambitions must be measured against concrete operational requirements.
