Understanding the EU’s changing trade policy strategy towards the Asia-Pacific region from a role-theory perspective

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an increasing nexus between the European Union’s trade and foreignpolicy toward Asia. On the one hand, the EU has sought to deepen economic cooperation with its keyAsian partners since this region has become central to the EU’s economic growth. On the other hand,the EU has increasingly used its trade policy as a foreign policy tool to pursue its geopolitical interestsin Asia. Against this background, the paper seeks to examine the dynamics of trade relations betweenthe EU and its Asian partners by adopting the role theory. Using this theory, this paper aims to providea holistic understanding of how the EU’s changing role in the EU-Asia trade relations has affected itspursuit of economic as well as geopolitical interests in Asia.