concept

Open Strategic Autonomy

Also known as: OSA, EU Open Strategic Autonomy

Entities (3)

European Union

European Union

Open Strategic Autonomy is a defining policy framework of the European Union, serving as its primary strategy for balancing economic security, technological sovereignty, and competitiveness [1], [2], [3]. The policy was developed as an internal compromise to address global geopolitical tensions and market shifts, guided by the principle of being 'as open as possible, as autonomous as necessary' [4], [5], [6]. — 39 supporting facts

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European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the primary institution responsible for formulating and implementing the Open Strategic Autonomy policy, as evidenced by its role in elevating the concept to an overarching principle [1] and defining its trade policy [2]. Furthermore, internal factions and Directorate Generals within the European Commission have been central to the development and compromise-driven evolution of the Open Strategic Autonomy framework {fact:2, fact:3, fact:4, fact:5, fact:6}. — 7 supporting facts

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World Trade Organization

World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization is related to Open Strategic Autonomy because the European Union's OSA policy instruments are frequently evaluated for their compatibility with WTO norms and regulations as described in [1], [2], and [3]. Furthermore, the implementation of OSA risks undermining the WTO's multilateral framework [4] and involves tools that operate both within and outside the scope of WTO purview [5]. — 5 supporting facts

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Facts (51)

Sources

The EU's Open Strategic Autonomy and the challenge of ... globalpolicyjournal.com Eugenia Baroncelli · Global Policy Journal Aug 27, 2025 39 facts

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) measures are typologized by two dimensions: their innovative potential relative to other countries' tools, and their defensive versus offensive propensity relative to existing trade standards.

claimThe change in European Union policy toward Open Strategic Autonomy was driven by the convergence of three components: a Franco-German consensus, a compromise between pro-autonomy European Commission Directorate Generals (DG GROW, DG CNECT, DG DIGIT) and market-oriented Directorate Generals (DG TRADE, DG COMP, DG ECFIN), and widespread support from citizens and the private sector.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) policy concept has guided the redefinition of the European Union's trade policy in the 2020s, as established by the European Commission in 2021.

claimOpen Strategic Autonomy is defined as the European Union's 'adaptive response to a changing external power and ideological environment' and includes a range of policy instruments that are not always compatible with World Trade Organization norms and regulations.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) supply-side measures require balancing with support for workers and consumers to ensure cohesion through redistribution to disadvantaged groups and Member States.

referenceEugenia Baroncelli and Sinan Ülgen authored the chapter 'Open Strategic Autonomy and the Future of the Global Economic Order' in the 2024 book 'Geopolitics and Economic Statecraft in the European Union', edited by Rosa Balfour and Sinan Ülgen and published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

referenceBaroncelli and Ülgen (2024) characterize the result of Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) as a mix of postliberal welfare, tech-green industrial policy, and a defensive mercantilist approach to trade policy.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) strategy includes policy instruments that are not always compatible with World Trade Organization (WTO) norms and regulations.

claimOpen Strategic Autonomy measures include 'traditional' trade and industrial policy tools, specifically the EU FDI-Screening Mechanism (FDI-SM), the New Export Control Regime, the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), the Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI), and the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) with its associated Enforcement Regulation.

claimOpen Strategic Autonomy (OSA) features a set of mercantilist yet mostly defensive tools, with the potential exception of the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) if it is used to respond to minor frictions in areas outside the purview of the World Trade Organization.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) policy concept, which guided trade policy in the 2020s, represents a middle-of-the-road approach intended to achieve economic security and foster technological sovereignty.

claimThe European Union utilized Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) instruments as a response to critical shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and following the start of the Ukraine War in 2022.

claimSince 2018, the European Union has introduced new Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) tools to mitigate the impact of the US-China trade war and to address measures implemented during the first Donald Trump administration ('Trump I').

referenceEugenia Baroncelli examines the European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) concept and its recent competitiveness upgrade in a chapter for a forthcoming e-book titled 'The European Union in an Illiberal World', published by the Global Governance Research Group of the UNA Europa network.

claimThe origins of the European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) strategy stem from two co-existing tendencies: a neo-mercantilist protectionist approach supported by the DG Internal Market (GROW) and the EU Council, and a neo-liberal free-market approach supported by DG Trade and the European Commission.

claimThe European Union introduced new Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) tools starting in 2018 to mitigate the impact of the US-China trade war and to respond to measures introduced during the first Trump administration.

referenceLuuk Schmitz and Timo Seidl authored the article 'As Open as Possible, as Autonomous as Necessary: Understanding the Rise of Open Strategic Autonomy in EU Trade Policy,' which was published in the Journal of Common Market Studies in 2023 (Volume 61, Issue 3, pages 834-852).

claimOpen Strategic Autonomy measures include 'new tools' for high-tech and clean tech, specifically the EU Chips Act, the Carbon Border Adjustment Measure (CBAM), the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), and the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA).

claimThe European Union's shift toward autonomy and away from openness is characterized by researchers as 'reluctant geopoliticization'.

referenceTobias Gehrke authored the article 'EU Open Strategic Autonomy and the Trappings of Geoeconomics,' which was published in the European Foreign Affairs Review in 2022 (Volume 27, Issue SI, pages 61-78).

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) strategy is characterized as a mix of "postliberal welfare," a tech-green industrial policy, and a defensive mercantilist approach to trade policy.

perspectiveThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) mercantilism is primarily reactive and defensive, with calls to competitiveness serving as a rhetorical bridge to unify the Union's liberalizing and autonomist factions.

claimCompetitiveness is a central feature of the new European Union economic policy agenda, acting as a conceptual bridge between the balance of Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) and the divide between consumers and suppliers within Member State electorates.

claimThe shift toward the Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) model in the European Union is driven by three components: a Franco-German consensus, a compromise between pro-autonomy European Commission Directorate Generals (DG GROW, DG CNECT, DG DIGIT) and market-oriented Directorate Generals (DG TRADE, DG COMP, DG ECFIN), and support from citizens and the private sector.

perspectiveEugenia Baroncelli argues that the European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) mercantilism remains primarily reactive and defensive, with calls for competitiveness serving as a rhetorical bridge to unify the Union's liberalizing and autonomist factions.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) is the primary strategy for ensuring economic sovereignty, having been upgraded following the 2023 Gaza War and the 2025 “Trump II” trade shocks.

claimThe European Union has utilized Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) instruments as a response to critical shortages during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 Ukraine War.

claimThe origins of Open Strategic Autonomy stem from two opposing tendencies within European Union institutions: a neo-mercantilist protectionist approach endorsed by DG Internal Market (GROW) and the EU Council, and a neo-liberal free-market approach championed by DG Trade and a portion of the European Commission.

referenceJuncos and Vanhoonacker (2024) attribute the 'open' qualifier in the European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) to liberal factions within the European Commission.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) policy concept, introduced in the 2020s, serves as a middle-of-the-road approach to achieving economic security and fostering technological sovereignty while maintaining commitments to multilateralism.

claimOpen Strategic Autonomy (OSA) serves as the European Union's response to the current global context where dense economic ties coexist with market segmentation along geopoliticized lines.

perspectiveEuropean Union Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) measures in green-high tech and traditional trade-industrial policy are primarily driven by catch-up measures and defensive mercantilism.

claimSince the 2023 Gaza War and the 2025 'Trump II' trade shocks, Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) has been upgraded as the European Union's primary strategy to ensure economic sovereignty regarding both allies and adversaries.

claimThe Second Von Der Leyen Commission's 2025 Competitiveness Compass and Clean Industrial Deal have shifted Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) to combine defensive mercantilism with a more assertive industrial policy approach.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) policy serves as an incremental compromise between different internal political factions of the EU in response to global market segmentation.

referenceBaroncelli and Ülgen (2024) state that Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) functions as an adaptive response to a changing external power and ideological environment, featuring policy instruments that are not always compatible with World Trade Organization (WTO) norms.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) in green-high tech sectors is characterized by followership, with the exception of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which demonstrates innovative leadership in greening trade and investment.

referenceEugenia Baroncelli's chapter, 'The EU’s Open Strategic Autonomy and the challenge of competitiveness in the era of geo-politicized interdependence,' is part of a forthcoming e-book by the Global Governance Research Group of the UNA Europa network titled 'The European Union in an Illiberal World.'

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) measures are categorized into "new tools" (EU Chips Act, Carbon Border Adjustment Measure, Critical Raw Materials Act, Net-Zero Industry Act) and "traditional" trade and industrial policy tools (FDI-Screening Mechanism, New Export Control Regime, Foreign Subsidies Regulation, Single Market Emergency Instrument, and the Anti-Coercion Instrument).

The EU's Evolving Approach to Open Strategic Autonomy: a Critical ... celis.institute Professor Sergio Mariotti · Celis Institute Feb 25, 2025 8 facts

claimA more unilateral and protectionist Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) policy could encourage individual European Union member states to pursue their own nationalist industrial strategies, thereby undermining EU unity and exacerbating internal fragmentation.

claimScholars critique the concept of Open Strategic Autonomy as inherently contradictory, vulnerable to opportunistic interpretations by member states, or as a form of 'decoupling à la carte' that allows for selective policy applications.

claimOpen Strategic Autonomy has emerged as a defining concept in European Union policy, characterized by two key dimensions: the central role of industrial policy and the integration of competitiveness with sovereignty and security concerns.

claimThe guiding principle of the European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy is 'as open as possible, as autonomous as necessary,' reflecting a cautious shift toward unilateralism in response to the decline of multilateralism and rising geopolitical tensions.

claimThe Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) principle may stifle scientific progress by restricting collaboration with researchers from countries that lack formal defense and security agreements with the European Union.

claimThe European Union's Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) policy risks undermining the European Union's commitment to multilateralism if it weakens existing international institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO).

referenceIn early 2024, the European Commission released an updated version of the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan for 2025–2027, which elevates 'open strategic autonomy and ensuring Europe’s leadership in critical technologies' from one of four strategic priorities to an overarching principle guiding the green transition, digital transition, and the goal of building a more resilient, competitive, inclusive, and democratic Europe.

perspectiveThe implementation of Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) requires recognizing specific risks to ensure it strengthens European resilience without causing global economic instability or intensifying geopolitical tensions.

Quest for Strategic Autonomy? Europe Grapples with the US - China ... realinstitutoelcano.org Real Instituto Elcano Jun 26, 2025 2 facts

claimSpain introduced the non-paper 'Resilient EU 2030' at the October 2023 Granada meeting, aiming to contribute to a comprehensive, balanced, and forward-looking approach to reinforce the EU's open strategic autonomy.

claimThe concept of 'open' strategic autonomy in EU policy builds on a prior joint non-paper with the Netherlands and reflects a commitment to multilateralism, international cooperation, and proportionality.

Strategic Autonomy or Transatlantic Dependency The EU's Evolving ... strasbourgcentre.com Strasbourg Centre Aug 12, 2025 2 facts

claimThe European Union defines 'open strategic autonomy' as a framework that seeks to balance internal resilience with global openness, guided by the principle of being 'as open as possible, as autonomous as necessary.'

claimThe European Union integrates industrial policy, economic security, and technological sovereignty into a unified agenda under the concept of open strategic autonomy.