EU’s efforts to rebuild ties with Asia risk losing momentum

Date: 06/04/2000

European policy-makers are now acutely aware that Asia's expanded role in world affairs makes it essential for the EU to strengthen its political presence in the region. But, as Shada Islam reports, it faces an uphill struggle to do so

BUILDING stronger relations with Asia continues to be one of the key foreign policy challenges facing the EU.

The Union was slow to wake up to Asia's growing global importance, only turning its full attention on the region in 1996 at the first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Bangkok.

Since then, however, policy-makers in Europe have come to recognise that Asia's expanded role in world affairs makes it imperative for the Union to reinforce its political presence in the region.

On the economic front, Asia's rapid come-back after the 1997-98 financial crisis means that it is once again a buoyant trade and business partner and an attractive investment location. For many in Asia meanwhile, forging closer ties with the EU remains an important counterweight to long-established links with both the US and Japan.

Despite the mutual interest in deepening ties, however, the EU-Asia relationship is in danger of losing much of its initial momentum.

Relations with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) continue to be mired in policy differences over Burma. Following the Asian crisis, the ASEM process also needs to be given a new focus and direction. That will be one of the key items on the agenda at a meeting of ASEM senior officials in Lisbon on 2-3 May.

On the positive side, Europe's bilateral relations with at least two Asian nations are looking better than ever. Recent months have seen an upgrading of the Union's ties with the new democratic government in Indonesia. Following Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's visit to Brussels earlier this year, senior EU and Indonesian officials met for the first time for bilateral high-level talks last week.

For the first time, the Union will also be holding summit level talks with India in June in Porto, in belated recognition of the country's regional and global significance.

But for EU-Asia relations to really take off, European policy-makers face the challenging task of trying to revive the dialogue with ASEAN and updating the four-year-old ASEM partnership. ASEAN remains an important regional player which the Union cannot afford to neglect for much longer. ASEM, often described as Europe's alternative to the US-led Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, allows the EU to talk at the same time to Asia's top economic powers, including Japan, China, South Korea and seven ASEAN countries.

Upgrading institutional ties with ASEAN is the most difficult challenge. Ministers from the two regions have not met for political discussions since 1997 when Burma became a member of ASEAN. The Portuguese presidency is currently trying to break the impasse by organising a meeting of EU and ASEAN senior officials in early May. Burma is likely to be invited to those talks, but the UK and the Netherlands remain opposed to holding any ministerial meeting where a representative of the Burmese military regime is present.

Union action to toughen existing sanctions against Burma could help convince London and The Hague to agree to such a get-together. The two have said that the EU sanctions list should be extended to include a ban on the supply of military equipment to Burma which could be used for purposes of internal repression and a freeze on the assets of individuals linked to Rangoon's military regime. Both countries are also asking for a wider ban on the granting of visas to senior representatives of the Burmese government.

Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss this issue at their meeting in Brussels next Monday (10 April). ASEAN diplomats warn that it is short-sighted of the EU to allow differences over Burma to affect the overall relationship with the region. "If there is a bilateral problem with Burma, the EU should deal with it bilaterally," insists an ASEAN diplomat. "Business between two regions should not be affected."

ASEM, once seen as an alternative to the flagging EU-Asean relationship, is also in danger of running out of steam unless urgent action is taken to inject new ideas into the partnership. As Europe and Asia prepare for a third ASEM summit in Seoul on 20-21 October, both sides are searching for new ways of injecting more dynamism into the dialogue, both in the traditional economic, trade and business cooperation areas but also, crucially, in new sectors covering security, culture and education.

The challenge is to give the upcoming ASEM summit a central idea or focus. The first ASEM summit in Bangkok was clearly a landmark meeting in launching the process of EU-Asia cooperation, while the gathering in London in 1998 highlighted Europe's determination to stand by Asia's then crisis-hit economies. But finding a dominant theme for the Seoul meeting is proving to be difficult.

The Union wants the summit to strengthen its political dialogue with Asia, reinforce trade and investment relations between the two regions, and start discussions on increased cooperation in areas like education and consumer protection.

Strengthening participation in ASEM by the private sector and non-governmental organisations is also seen as important. "The underlying need is for Asia and Europe to understand each other better," says a participant. "Our task is to ensure that the ASEM process can mature but without losing its dynamism."

A report presented last year by the Asia-Europe 'vision group' of independent experts stressed that after four years, the ASEM process "must move to a new and deeper phase". This second stage "needs to be guided by an overarching vision which articulates the overall goal of strengthening relations between the two regions. It should be the vision which drives the process and not vice versa."

Among other steps, the report suggested that the two regions should "set the eventual goal of free trade in goods and services by the year 2025 by adopting a strategic framework for the progressive freeing of trade in goods and services among themselves".

Future enlargement of the club is expected to command attention at both the Seoul gathering and in the meetings leading to it. Both sides agree that ASEM must be open to new members, especially from Asia, but there is no consensus yet on who should be brought into the group. The EU would like India and possibly Pakistan - once the country has set out a timetable for a return to democracy - to join. Many in Asia agree on opening the doors to India, but diplomats say there is a reluctance to do so until Pakistan also becomes eligible. Others in the queue include Australia and New Zealand, although neither country has the support of all Asian countries.

On the bilateral level, further promoting burgeoning ties with newly democratic Indonesia tops the Union's list of priorities. Following a communication by the European Commission earlier this year, EU foreign ministers agreed in March that a "new and closer relationship" with the Indonesian government must include regular ministerial contacts and Union support to strengthen democracy in the country, ensure respect for human rights and reform of the country's military and judicial systems. Ministers also promised "substantial" development assistance for Indonesia.

Separately, in talks with East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmo at last month's summit in Lisbon, EU governments voiced support for the territory's transition to independence, also promising help for East Timor's reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.

In addition to almost €34 million provided recently in humanitarian assistance, officials say the Union will spend €60 million over the next three years on the long-term development of the health sector and infrastructure.

The EU's plan to hold its first summit-level talks with India in June is also significant. Diplomats say the meeting is long overdue given the country's growing economic and political clout. Details of the summit agenda are still being worked out, but the dynamism of India's information technology sector and the Union's increasing focus on seeking skilled foreign workers to help boost its own e-Europe plans are likely to be discussed by leaders.

Major feature. European policy-makers are now acutely aware that Asia's expanded role in world affairs makes it essential for the EU to strengthen its political presence in the region. But it faces an uphill struggle to do so.