With the accelerated adjustment of the international order and the intensification of great power competition，Europe’s awareness of the significance of its strategic autonomy has gradually grown. Within EU institutions and the new German-Franco axis，Europe’s concepts for enhancing its strategic autonomy have in 2018 gained clarity，with concrete measures constantly taken. Europe’s efforts to improve its strategic autonomy are mainly concentrated in three key areas，namely economics and finance，politics and diplomacy，and security and defense. However，judging from the actual results of the year of EU reform，the desire of its member states to retain sovereignty in the Economic and Monetary Union and on security issues continues to be strong. The essential results are a number of small steps in pragmatic cooperation at the technical level that reflect the minimal consensus and the balance of interests between various forces within the EU. Europe’s efforts to strengthen its strategic autonomy are still constrained by obvious internal and external factors.