Global Europe

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s decision to stay away from this week’s meeting in Hanoi of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) deprives her of a vital personal opportunity to participate in Southeast Asia’s largest and most influential talk-fest on regional security challenges, including North Korea and Burma/Myanmar.

The EU’s reputation in Asia should not suffer excessively since Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi will represent Ashton in Hanoi. Martonyi will certainly be welcomed by his hosts from the ten ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries which have long sought stronger ties with Europe. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht’s planned discussions with ASEAN trade ministers in Penang, Malaysia, at the end of August may also help correct ASEAN concerns at the EU’s frequent failure to send its top diplomats to the region.

But Ashton’s decision to miss the Hanoi meeting and her brief appearance at a dinner with ASEAN foreign ministers in Madrid earlier this year is in stark contrast to the importance that the US Administration is paying to building stronger ties with the region. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is leading an impressive delegation to this year’s ARF meeting. This follows her visit last year to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta -- yet unvisited by a senior EU politician -- and the organization of the first US-ASEAN summit, attended by President Barack Obama last November.

With the rise of China and India making headlines across the globe, it may be tempting for short-staffed European foreign ministries and EU institutions to neglect other Asian countries. However, such an approach is short-sighted and betrays a lack of strategic thinking as regards Asia. If the EU is to develop and implement a true strategy for Asia, it cannot afford to cold-shoulder ASEAN, the region’s oldest regional cooperation body which, for all its shortcomings, is at the centre of a spate of new proposals for a new Asian regional architecture.

ASEAN dominates the landscape -- and intends to remain centre-stage. After years of slumber, the organization is engaged in a fast-track road to further integration among its ten members. Among recent moves, ASEAN governments have agreed to implement an ambitious Charter which includes plans to achieve an ASEAN Economic Community, with a frontier-free single market, by 2015.

Among the dizzying array of Asian regional integration initiatives are suggestions by Singapore and Indonesia for opening up the East Asia Summit to the US and Russia or, alternatively, creating an “ASEAN plus Eight” forum which would meet every two to three years. Europeans are rightly asking to be part of the expanding dialogue -- but ASEAN has so far been lukewarm in its response.

Ensuring that Europe acquires a seat at the top Asian table is not going to be easy. Despite their strong trading links -- EU trade in goods with East Asia is much higher than transatlantic trade flows -- Europeans have been unable to transform their economic strength into a stronger political presence in Asia.

Correcting the impression that Europe is too entangled in its domestic affairs to pay attention to Asia will take time and effort. Senior European policymakers, will have to step up their visits to key Asian capitals. Asia-Europe discussions, for instance at the ASEM (Asia Europe Meeting) summit on October 4-5 in Brussels, will have to switch from process to substance.

The conclusion of EU partnership and cooperation agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines, the EU-South Korea free trade agreement and negotiations under way on EU free trade deals with India, Singapore and possibly soon Malaysia and Vietnam are positive steps which should build stronger bonds between EU-Asia bonds. More will be needed, however, to stop Europe and Asia from drifting apart.