ABSTRACT For the European Union, nuclear weapons are a taboo. But the more the EU takes steps towards defense integration, the closer the moment comes that the role of the French nuclear weapons has to be discussed. This article hopes to clarify that debate. The first part of this article outlines the debate between those who regard nuclear weapons as powerful and legitimate defense instruments and those who perceive them as too powerful and therefore illegitimate. It is argued that power and deterrence are concepts that are constructed and given meaning by people. The second part applies this debate to the future role of the non-American nuclear weapons in the EU: is there a chance that the French nuclear weapons will be further Europeanized, or will the EU in contrast turn itself into another nuclear weapon free zone (similar to Latin America, the Pacific, and Africa), or will not much change ? It is argued that the outcome of this political debate to a large extent will be determined by the outcome of the aforementioned general debate about power and legitimacy of nuclear weapons.

中文翻译：

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电力与核武器：欧洲联盟的情况

摘要对于欧洲联盟来说，核武器是禁忌。但是，欧盟对国防一体化采取的步骤越多，就越应该讨论法国核武器的作用。本文希望澄清这一辩论。本文的第一部分概述了那些将核武器视为强大和合法的防御工具的人与认为核武器过于强大并因此不合法的人之间的辩论。有人认为，权力和威慑是人们建构并赋予其意义的概念。第二部分将这一辩论应用于非美国核武器在欧盟中的未来作用：法国核武器是否有可能进一步实现欧洲化，或者相比之下，欧盟将自己变成另一个无核武器区（类似于拉丁美洲，太平洋和非洲），还是不会有太大变化？有人认为，这场政治辩论的结果将在很大程度上取决于上述有关核武器的权力和合法性的一般性辩论的结果。