The Changing Landscape of EU-Asia Relations

Abstract

European Union-Asia relations have been progressively developing over the years. The European Union (EU) today is the leading trade partner of many Asian nations and the spectrum of issues falling under the EU’s bilateral relations with countries in Asia spans far and wide. The EU has been a development partner in Asia for decades and is one of Asia’s largest sources of foreign direct investment (FDI), aid and humanitarian assistance. The EU and Asia interact closely on regional and multilateral issues and within multilateral forums. The EU has even constructed developed deeper relationships with some key Asian countries through strategic partnerships: with China, India, Japan, South Korea and Russia. But potential of overall EU-Asia relations remains far from optimum. The EU has been rather late in recognising the rise of Asia and in gearing itself towards this important development. It has ambitions to play a greater political role in complement to its status as a global trading giant, but efforts fall short. In particular, the EU lacks visibility in Asia commensurate to its actual weight. The ongoing financial and economic crisis has further weakened the EU as an actor in Asia. The changing landscape of EU-Asia relations now depends on two important considerations – a dynamically ascendant and economically integrated Asia, and the US’ renewed focus to Asia. This paper examines the EU’s relations with Asia focussing on the Asian partners of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).