EU member states have been debating the notion of European strategic autonomy in the field of defence for decades. The election of US President Donald Trump in 2016 revived this debate and his administration’s negative attitude towards EU defence cooperation initiatives rendered it highly emotive. With Joe Biden’s victory, the debate is apparently ready to enter the next stage. In this policy brief, Nicole Koenig argues that a Biden administration represents an opportunity to go beyond terminological debates onto two more substantial questions that represent two sides of the same coin: how can Europeans shape a more balanced transatlantic security and defence agenda and how can they defend their own security interests?