Development of the European Union strategic culture: Narrative, institutional and normative aspects

In this paper, we examine the issue of the strategic culture of the European Union as a requirement for the autonomous concept in international relations. The subject of this research focuses on narrative, institutional, and normative aspects of aligning the perception and solidarity of the member states in connection with the threats to the Union's values and interests. For the assessment of the state, current tendencies, and possible development of the joint EU strategic culture, we have used the comparative analysis of secondary sources, as well as the analysis of the contents of the EU organs' documents referring to the narratives and institutional support to the development of the autonomous collective strategic thinking and acting. Some special attention has been paid to the challenges occurring within the process, considering the fact that it is, in terms of values and interests, potentially a supranational entity having the capacity to influence international relations in a relatively independent way (Fabbrini 2020). The aim is to qualify the state of the Union in the current geopolitical environment and to identify the elements on which one may assess this organisation's strategic development. The acquired results show that the joint strategic culture is the requirement for the EU to become an autonomous security participant on the international stage. A specific finding is the estimate that institutional mechanisms assigned by the founding agreements do not fit the joint strategic thinking of the member states, which is currently undermining the prospects of the development of the joint strategic culture and the EU position in global affairs.