EU gets started on reviving ties with Asean
Business Times (Singapore) | July 21, 2009
EU gets started on reviving ties with Asean
By SHADA ISLAM
BRUSSELS CORRESPONDENT
US SECRETARY of state Hillary Clinton’s participation in the Asean regional forum in Thailand next week spotlights the Obama Administration’s determination to revitalise engagement with South-east Asia.
But pay careful attention: more modestly and with much less fanfare, the European Union is also slowly but surely upgrading ties with the region.
Part of it is economic self-interest. As European economies continue to mark time, Asia’s stronger growth rates appear ever more enticing for beleaguered European exporters. They may have feared them in the past, but Asian investments and sovereign wealth funds are now welcomed by European governments.
And Asia’s cooperation is considered crucial in the global battle to fight climate change, improve energy security and fight nuclear proliferation.
It’s also about political ambitions. EU policymakers continue to insist that the 27-nation bloc is a global power, with ambitions to flex its muscles not just in its neighbourhood but also in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Expect no spectacular changes, but the EU’s policy towards Asia is gradually shifting focus and gear.
After years of fascination with China, the EU is trying to negotiate a free trade agreement with India while Pakistan held a first-ever summit with the 27-nation bloc in mid-June. Japan is demanding a rethink of relations with Europe and the EU and South Korea are on the verge of signing a free trade agreement, the first such deal signed by the EU with an Asian country.
As is the case in Washington, when it comes to Asean, Brussels’ attention is centred on Indonesia. Last week in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and the EU finally initialled an ambitious cooperation pact aimed at revitalising a so-far uninspiring and lacklustre relationship.
The decision to upgrade EU-Indonesia ties was a long time coming. But it is important for both sides — and for the wider South-east Asian region.
Most crucially for Europe, the EU-Indonesia agreement gives the EU a higher political profile in the region and beyond. It also gives a much-needed fillip to the EU’s uncertain and shaky standing in the Muslim world.
Sealing a pact with Indonesia may not translate into an immediate change in Asian attitudes towards Europe - but there are hopes in Brussels that it will help dispel a growing perception in many South-east Asian countries that the EU has lost interest in the region.
For Indonesia, the rewards are just as high. On the practical front, the EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement covers areas as diverse as trade, transport, climate change, human rights, migration, tackling organised crime and communicable diseases. The political fall-out from the meeting is arguably even more important: Indonesia becomes the first Asian country to initial a PCA with the EU, ahead of both China and India. After years spent in the shadows of the two emerging Asian giants, Indonesia can finally savour the spotlight.
It has not been easy. Signature of the agreement with Europe was held up for two years, with Jakarta halting the initialling process after the EU imposed a ban in 2007 on all Indonesian airlines entering European airspace.
Europe’s Aviation Security Committee gave a thumbs up to improvements in Indonesian air safety standards earlier this month, allowing both sides to initial the cooperation agreement last week and draw up plans to sign the pact in the autumn.
The potential for improving EU-Indonesia trade and economic ties is enormous: bilateral trade between the EU and Indonesia US$18.5 billion last year but both sides predict that trade and investments will rise in the coming years. Brussels does have serious concerns about Jakarta’s creeping protectionism, however, with EU officials voicing concern at Indonesia restrictions on pharmaceuticals and imports of products like shoes, textiles and food.
Before exploring bilateral agreements with individual Asean states, the EU sought — unsuccessfully — to update its decades-old cooperation agreement with Asean as a whole. The EU argument was simple: as an organisation committed to regional integration, the EU should do its best to encourage and nurture other bodies working for regional unity.Attempts to negotiate a new EU-Asean agreement were shelved, however, after military-ruled Myanmar joined the organisation. (The EU has imposed sanctions on Myanmar and contacts with the country are restricted).
Since then, the EU has sought to conclude bilateral agreements with Asean states that are ready to take up that option. So far the response has been muted. However, as they strive to expand their international outreach, Asean capitals may consider the EU road worth travelling.
