Towards a Strengthened EU Strategy towards Australia: Sharing Values, Respecting Difference, Consolidating Policy Depth

The growth of Asian economies in the 21st century and the shuffling of the balance of power through the US ‘Pivot’ to Asia will increasingly ask the EU and its member states to take positions in the relations with their Asian partners. Chinese resurgence and its impact on the region in addition to increasing investment in Europe and Africa have changed the dynamic of the EU’s interaction with the Asia Pacific away from development assistance to cooperation (and competition) at eye level. This also means an overhaul of the EU’s Asia strategy of 2001. Besides creating continuity in a currently disconnected web of diplomatic and trade relations, a new strategy should provide a guideline for pooling resources, expertise and networks of EU-China relations under a joint umbrella which is especially beneficial for smaller member states.

This project puts forward analysis and concrete recommendations for an EU-Asia strategy along the main tensions of security and political relations, development cooperation and climate change policy. The three main recommendations are; (i) an increased cooperation through Asian multilateral fora and non-traditional security issues, (ii) that the EU position itself as a neutral arbiter in a volatile Asia Pacific, and, (iii) increased focus on public diplomacy.

The entire report can be consulted below!