Communication from the Commission - Europe and Asia: A Strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnerships
Date: 2001-09-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Asia, EU relations, democracy, human rights, international affairs, international security, investment abroad, poverty, trade policy

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 4.9.2001
COM(2001) 469 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION

Europe and Asia: A Strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnerships

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary................................................................................................................................ 3

1.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

3.

4.

4.1.

4.2.

4.3.

5.

6.

Introduction.............................................................................................................. 5

Asia and Europe at the Start of the 21st Century........................................................ 6

Asia.......................................................................................................................... 6

Europe...................................................................................................................... 9

The global context .................................................................................................. 10

Relations between the EU and the Asian countries : Taking Stock .......................... 11

Objectives, Priorities and Action Points.................................................................. 15

General objectives and priorities............................................................................. 15

Action points for the region as a whole................................................................... 15

Action points for the different regions of Asia ........................................................ 20

Implementation and resources ................................................................................ 26

Conclusions............................................................................................................ 27

Statistical Annexes

List of Acronyms

Population and Income in EU and Asia

EU-Asia Trade & Investment Flows

EU Assistance to Asia

2

Europe and Asia: A Strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnerships

SUMMARY

The Commission first set out an overall framework for EC relations with Asian countries in
its 1994 Communication “Towards a New Asia Strategy”. The present Communication
updates that strategy, taking account of key developments in the intervening years, and
establishing a comprehensive strategic framework for our relations with Asia and its sub-
regions in the coming decade.

After commenting on the major economic, political and social changes in Asia, Europe and
the world in recent years, the Communication takes stock of the development of EU-Asia
relations since 1994. Our political dialogue with key partners in the region has intensified, and
our trade and investment relations have expanded (notwithstanding the impact of the East
Asian Crisis). There has been a modest growth in our development and economic cooperation
with Asian countries. But much remains to be done, for example in deepening and broadening
our political dialogue,
relations and
strengthening our cooperation in the WTO, and in ensuring that our aid programmes in Asia
can achieve their full potential. The degree of mutual awareness between our two regions
remains insufficient.

in enhancing our bilateral

trade and investment

Taking account of the above, the present Communication proposes that we should set an
overall strategic framework for our relations with Asia in the coming decade based on the
core objective of strengthening the EU’s political and economic presence across the
region, and raising this to a level commensurate with the growing global weight of an
enlarged EU.

In particular, we should work to :

– contribute to peace and security in the region and globally, through a broadening of our

engagement with the region;

– further strengthen our mutual trade and investment flows with the region;

– promote the development of the less prosperous countries of the region, addressing the root

causes of poverty;

– contribute to the protection of human rights and to the spreading of democracy, good

governance and the rule of law;

– build global partnerships and alliances with Asian countries, in appropriate international
fora, to help address both the challenges and the opportunities offered by globalisation and
to strengthen our joint efforts on global environmental and security issues;

– and help strengthen the awareness of Europe in Asia (and vice versa).

These general objectives and priorities are elaborated further in a series of specific action
points for the region as a whole, and for each of the four key sub-regions (South Asia, South-
East Asia, North-East Asia, Australasia).

3

This overall strategic framework (which may subsequently be amplified through specific sub-
regional strategies as appropriate, as well as through the Country Strategy Papers focusing on
development cooperation), will also serve as an important input for a proposed revision of the
ALA Regulation in the first semester of 2002 (following on an overall evaluation now
commencing). Looking forward, it will be important to take stock of progress on a regular
basis, and it
the strategy may usefully be reviewed, and adapted as
necessary, in five or six years’ time.

is suggested that

is essential that there is a proper
For this strategic framework to be fully effective,
consistency between the objectives being set, and the resources available to meet them. Our
first priority is to ensure that the available resources are used in an effective and timely
fashion, implementing fully the ongoing reform of our external assistance. Once this has been
achieved, we will be better able to address the longer-term question of whether and to what
extent the level of resources available for our cooperation activities with Asia should be
increased.

it

In conclusion, the Communication emphasises that Asia is a crucial economic and political
partner for Europe. More than ever before, the EU and its Asian partners should work
together in addressing the global challenges which we both face, and the global opportunities
which we should all be able to share. Our Asian partners are invited to reflect on their side on
how we might address these issues together.

4

1.

INTRODUCTION

In 1994, the Commission’s Communication “Towards a New Asia Strategy”1 set out for the
first time an overall direction to be followed in our relations with Asia, and sought to build a
more comprehensive and balanced framework for our relations with this vast region.

The 1994 Strategy paper covered South, South-East and North-East Asia. It emphasised the
rapid economic changes that had taken place in the region over the previous decades, and the
need to ensure an effective and proactive EU presence in the region. It set the key objectives
of strengthening our economic presence in the region, contributing to its political stability
through a broadening of our political and economic relations with the region as a whole,
promoting the development of the less prosperous countries, and contributing to the spread of
democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. It put forward eight key priorities to be
addressed, including the continued strengthening of our bilateral relations, a raised profile of
the EU in Asia, support for regional cooperation (with a view to enhancing peace and
security), encouraging Asia to play a greater role in multilateral fora, ensuring open markets
and a non-discriminatory business framework, encouraging the integration of state economies
into the free market, contributing to sustainable development and poverty alleviation in the
least prosperous countries, and the importance of ensuring a coordinated approach, across the
EU, to our relations with the region.

This Strategy was subsequently elaborated further for specific countries or sectors in a
number of more targeted Communications, touching for example on our relations with China,
India, ASEAN, Indonesia, the ASEM process, and on the energy and environment sectors.2

Overall, the 1994 Asia Strategy has served us well (for an assessment of its implementation,
see section 3 below). In many respects, the issues and responses identified there remain
broadly valid today. However, the world has moved on since 1994, with significant economic
and political changes both in Asia and in Europe, and with the acceleration of globalisation
(and the intensification of the opportunities and challenges which that offers). In the coming
years, the EU will experience a further transformation, with enlargement on the horizon, with
the single market and single currency achieving their full potential, and with a continued
strengthening in EU policy coordination, both in foreign policy and in justice and home
affairs policies.

The present Communication thus seeks to review and update our approach to Asia, to provide
a new strategic framework which will address the changes since 1994, and to establish a
coherent, comprehensive and balanced strategic approach for our relations with Asia in the
coming decade.

1

2

COM(94) 314, 13 July 1994.
For example, “A long-term policy for China-Europe Relations” (COM(95) 279, 5.07.95), “EU-India
Enhanced Partnership” (COM(96) 275, 25.06.96), “Creating a New Dynamic in ASEAN-EU
Relations” (COM(96) 314, 3.07.96), “Europe-Asia Cooperation Strategy for Energy” (COM(96) 308,
18.07.96), “The EU and Hong Kong : beyond 1997” (COM(97) 171, 23.04.97), “Perspectives and
Priorities for the ASEM Process” (SEC(97) 1239, 26.06.97), “Europe-Asia Cooperation Strategy in the
field of the Environment” (COM(97) 490, 13.10.97), “Building a comprehensive partnership with
China” (COM(98) 181, 25/03/98), “The EU and Macau : beyond 2000” (COM(99) 484, 12/11/99),
“Developing Closer Relations between Indonesia and the EU” (COM(00) 50, 2.02.00); “Perspectives
and Priorities for the ASEM Process into the New Decade” (COM(00) 241, 18.4.00).

5

2.

ASIA AND EUROPE AT THE START OF THE 21ST CENTURY

2.1.

Asia

It has sometimes been suggested that even the term “Asia” may be a false concept, bestowing
an artificial homogeneity on the vastly diverse economic and political geography of the
region. But labels matter less than the reality which they represent, and it is the reality of Asia
which is of essential importance for the EU. The present paper will take as its area of
coverage the countries stretching from Afghanistan in the west to Japan in the east, and from
China in the north to New Zealand in the south, plus all points between. It covers therefore
those countries in South Asia, South-East Asia and North-East Asia which would meet any
common definition of Asia (and which were covered in the 1994 Strategy). It also covers, for
the first time, Australasia – given that the economic and political links of Australia and New
Zealand with their neighbours to the north, and their geographic proximity, are sufficiently
great that they should be treated here as part of the wider Asian and Asia-Pacific region3.

An Asian Snapshot4

Population 3.3 billion
(56% of world total)

GNP $7,440 billion
(26% of world total)

CO2 emissions 7.4 billion tonnes

(33% of world total))

Per capita incomes

Cambodia $260
Malaysia $3,400 S Korea

India $450 China $780

$8,490 Japan $32,230

Number of people living on less than $1 per day
800 million (66% of the world’s poor people)

Asia’s share of world trade 25.3%
(developed Asia 14.2%, developing Asia 11.1%)

Asia’s share of EC exports & imports 21.1% & 31.2%
(developed Asia 10.6% & 13.0%, developing Asia 10.5% & 18.2%)

EU exports to Asia as % of EU GNP 2.3%

Apart from the region’s demographic and economic weight, Asia has been the cradle of
several of the world’s major religions, and its cultural richness is unparalleled. It is also the
locus of several longstanding sources of tension or conflict (for example in Kashmir, Sri
Lanka, on the borders of Afghanistan, in Aceh and Mindanao, across the Taiwan Straits, in
the South China Sea, and on the Korean peninsula). Several Asian states have a nuclear
capability, and certain countries continue to cause concern in relation to the proliferation of

3

4

This paper does not however cover certain other regions or countries which might geographically be
considered as part of the wider Asia and Asia-Pacific region – Pacific Russia, Central Asia, the
developing countries of the Pacific, nor the countries of the Gulf or the Near East. In varying degrees,
these all have significant political and (sometimes economic), relationships with Asia as a whole, and
an understanding of these relationships is an essential part of the broader context of Asia. But in
general the focus of their attention is elsewhere, and our relations with these countries are dealt with in
a different context.
Data here and in the “EU Snapshot” on a later page are taken from the World Bank Development
Report 2000/2001 (population and income figures, year 1999, emission figures, year 1996) and from
Eurostat (trade figures, year 2000).

6

weapons of mass destruction. Asia is also home to two-thirds of the world’s poor, with 800
million people living on less than $1 per day, with food security, health, and access to basic
services still ever-present issues in most of the lower-income countries of the region, and
with serious disparities of income and opportunity still challenging many middle-income
countries. Asia also has a critical role to play in addressing global, regional and local
environmental challenges – reflecting the region’s geographic, demographic and industrial
weight, the importance of its natural resources and biodiversity, and the rapidity of economic
and demographic change across the region. As an example, the region accounts for some 33%
of global CO2 emissions5, and issues relating to climate change, energy consumption and
efficiency, forest and watershed protection, and biodiversity are necessarily high on the
regional and global agenda.

In recent decades certain parts of Asia, through diverse but effective development strategies,
have experienced an economic transformation, improving the living standards of hundreds of
millions of people (notwithstanding the East Asian Crisis of recent years). The social and
environmental costs of such rapid change remain to be fully addressed, and Asia also faces
the same global challenges as Europe, be they economic insecurity, environmental
degradation, the scourge of AIDS, or transnational crime. Yet Asia has also benefited from
the opportunities which globalisation offers, and many countries in the region have shown
their ability to exploit these opportunities to the full.

There is also a massive diversity across Asia. The region includes three of the five largest
countries in the world, in population terms (China, India, Indonesia), and some of the
smallest (Brunei, Bhutan, the Maldives) – as well as two countries with the highest and
lowest population densities in the world (Singapore and Mongolia respectively). It includes
some of the richest countries in the world (Japan, Singapore, Australia), and some of the
poorest (from Afghanistan to North Korea)6. There is a tremendously rich cultural and
religious diversity across the region, reflecting the historic civilisations of South Asia, of
South-East Asia, of China, Japan and Korea, and for that matter the multiple cultural
heritages of Australasia. Yet this same diversity can also be a source of tension, with acute
ethnic or religious divides in certain countries, which in some cases threaten to rip apart the
fabric of society. There is also a massive political diversity across Asia, , with Indonesia only
recently emerged from a long period of “guided democracy”, and with other countries which
are still subject to military or theocratic dictatorships. Nor should one forget the considerable
wealth of diversity (ethnic, social or cultural) within certain countries of the region, whether
in India or China, in Indonesia, the Philippines or Burma/Myanmar.

Since the 1994 Strategy was written, Asia has changed considerably, both economically and
politically. The growing economic optimism which had characterised East Asia for several
decades received a major blow from the financial and economic crisis which erupted in 1997.
Beginning with a financial collapse in Thailand, the crisis spread quickly across the whole
region. Across most of East Asia the origins of the crisis lay both in internal issues of
financial and corporate governance, debt management, and democratic accountability, and in

5

6

In 1996, Asia as a whole accounted for some 33% of global CO2 emissions (compared with 23% from
the US, and 14% from the EU). Within the Asian total, some 85% was accounted for by the five largest
industrial and industrialising economies (China, Japan, India, South Korea and Australia).
Eight Asian countries have been categorised as Least-Developed Countries (LLDCs) by the United
Nations : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, and
Laos (in addition to Yemen, which is not covered in the present paper). North Korea, while not on the
LLDC list, can also be considered as one of the poorest countries in the world.

7

external issues relating to cyclical demand for key exports, and to the mobility and volatility
of short-term capital flows. Both the social and political impact of the crisis has been
considerable, with several governments across the region falling as a result, and with
Indonesia in particular experiencing the most severe economic and social strains.

A relatively rapid economic recovery has confirmed the underlying economic dynamism of
the emerging economies of East Asia. Europe’s own contribution to this recovery,
in
particular through keeping our markets open and building on the “trade and investment
pledge” made at the second ASEM Summit in London in April 1998, has been of crucial
importance. The changes in trade flows arising from the crisis have meant that the EU’s trade
121.5 billion in 2000.7 The crisis has
deficit with Asia rose from
nonetheless underlined the imperative need for all the countries concerned (Japan no less than
China and other emerging economies of the region8) to continue with a pro-active reform
agenda, both in the financial and corporate sectors and in the field of social policy.9

13.3 billion in 1996, to

€

€

In South Asia, notably in India, recent reforms have benefited the economy and supported a
more modest but regular rate of growth. Such reforms must continue, and spread more widely
across the region, if these countries are to take full advantage of the trade and investment
opportunities available to them.

The political scene in Asia has also changed considerably in recent years. In the Sub-
Continent, the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir have now taken on
a nuclear dimension. In South-East Asia, the political transition and economic crisis in
Indonesia has helped lay a foundation for democratisation and improved governance, while
also seeing an increase in centrifugal pressures which may threaten the integrity of the
country. ASEAN has expanded its membership to include Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia and
Laos, while East Timor, on the verge of becoming an independent state, may shortly apply to
become ASEAN’s eleventh member.
In North-East Asia, President Kim Dae Jung’s
“Sunshine Policy” has brought a dramatic change to the prospects for peace on the Korean
Peninsula, while China continues to pursue its internal economic and social reforms, and to
exert an increasing economic and political influence across the region, becoming more
assertive in the pursuit of its regional and global interests.

The late 1990s have also seen a marked increase in efforts at regional dialogue and
cooperation, particularly in East Asia, with the birth of the “ASEAN plus 3” dialogue (and
the earlier establishment of an East Asian presence in ASEM), with the gradual strengthening
of the ARF as a confidence-building forum, and with increasing signs of a growing sense of
East Asian identity (perhaps influenced in large part by a shared experience during the
financial crisis). At the same time, ASEAN itself seems to have lost some of its momentum in
recent years, partly reflecting Indonesia’s preoccupation with internal concerns, partly
reflecting the underlying difficulty of some of the issues with which ASEAN has been faced

7

8

9

€

€

€

€

€

26.7 billion with the CIS,

4.9 billion with ACP countries and

86.9 billion, representing a deficit of

In 2000, the EU had a global trade deficit of
Asia (plus
Central America), and a surplus of
The continued recession in Japan has prevented that country from playing its traditional motor role in
absorbing exports from elsewhere in the region, a role which for the moment at least has largely been
taken over by the EU and the US.
In this context, the EU also made a significant contribution in terms of policy advice following the
Asian crisis, notably through the ASEM Trust Fund and the European Financial Expertise Network
(EFEX).

121.5 billion with
1.0 billion with South &

67.2 billion with the rest of the world.

€

8

(for example in completing AFTA, in responding to the financial crisis, and in absorbing
three new members). In South Asia, which in many respects remains distinct from the rest of
the region, SAARC offers the opportunity of a broad regional cooperation with diversified
aims, even if political tensions continue to hinder the establishment of a proposed “South
Asia Free Trade Area”, an essential step towards the insertion of that region into the
international economic environment.

2.2.

Europe

Compared with Asia, Europe has a similar total economic weight, though this is shared
among a very much smaller, and richer, population. Europe, like Asia, draws benefit from a
rich diversity of cultural and linguistic traditions, but our shared heritage (of conflict as well
as of cooperation) has led us to undertake the most far-reaching exercise in regional
integration in the world, with a single market uniting the European economic space, and since
1999 a single currency of global importance. This integration has also permitted us to benefit
from more than 50 years of internal peace, and to prepare now to re-unite a broader Europe,
previously divided by ideology. However, the 1990s also saw a series of murderous ethnic
conflicts on the borders of the Union, which present the most serious threat to European
peace and security since the end of the Cold War.

An EU Snapshot

EU 15
(6% of world total)

Population 375 million GNP $8,213 billion CO2 emissions 3.1 billion tonnes

(28% of world total)

(14% of world total)

Candidates Population 168 million GNP $556 billion

CO2 emissions 1.0 billion tonnes

EU +
Candidates

Population 544 million GNP $8,769 billion CO2 emissions 4.1 billion tonnes

(9% of world total)

(30% of world total)

(18% of world total)

EU 15 $21,877Candidates
EU+Candidates

$16,131

Per capita incomes

$3,306

EU Internal trade

EU 15 share of world trade
23.3% EU External trade

14.4%

EU total trade

37.7%

Europe itself has experienced considerable change in recent years. The birth of the European
Union, with the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, coincided with the effective completion of the
Single Market launched in the 1980s. Since then, the launch of the euro in 1999 has created a
full economic and monetary union covering most of our Member States, and launched a
major new world currency. The EU’s economic record has also improved significantly in
recent years, with steady if moderate economic growth and low inflation, partly reflecting a
new spirit of liberalisation and innovation across European industry, partly reflecting the
economic and monetary discipline required for monetary integration (and also looking
forward to taking full advantage of the opportunities offered by the emerging knowledge
society). With sound macroeconomic fundamentals and on-going structural reforms, the EU
and its Member States will provide an important pole of growth and stability in the global
economy.

Preparations are currently well underway for the enlargement of the Union from 2003
onwards, with the eventual perspective of a European Union of up to twenty-eight members,

9

and a population of 544 million. The EU’s external relations have also been transformed as a
result of the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties, with the creation in 1993 of a Common
Foreign and Security Policy (and the strengthening of this policy from 1999 in building a
European Security and Defence Policy), and the increasing importance of Justice and Home
Affairs issues in our external relations (both in the first and third “pillars”). The Nice Treaty,
when ratified, will
further consolidate EU institutions and prepare the ground for
enlargement. And the Commission itself has undergone significant change in recent years,
with a re-focusing of our priorities and resources, and with an extensive reform underway in
relation to the management of our external assistance.

2.3.

The global context

As Asia and Europe have evolved, so has the global context
in which we operate.
“Globalisation” as such is hardly a new phenomenon, and the 18th and 19th centuries also saw
rapid and far-reaching changes in the organisation of the world economy. What is new in
recent years is the speed at which events in one part of the world influence conditions in
another, and the intensity of our economic, political, and social interdependence. The East
Asian Crisis may have brought home to the countries of the region their dependence on
international capital flows, and emphasised again the importance of international trade as a
motor of growth and recovery. But Europe also is subject to the same market disciplines, and
needs to be no less vigilant on the need for good governance in the financial and corporate
sector, or on the essential importance of responsive and affordable social policies.

level,

in enhancing the effectiveness of

This increasing global interdependence also brings with it increasing global responsibilities.
The EU and its Asian partners have a shared interest in promoting peace and security at the
global
the UN, and in addressing global
environmental challenges. It is also in our common interest to address the “dark side of
globalisation”, combatting transnational crime (including trafficking in women and children,
the smuggling of illegal migrants, the drugs trade and money laundering) and terrorism, and
addressing global scourges such as poverty and epidemic disease. HIV/AIDS in particular is
spreading rapidly in parts of Asia, with a potentially severe economic impact on top of its
terrible human costs.

Globalisation of course offers opportunities as well as challenges. Many Asian countries,
particularly in East Asia, have benefitted greatly over several decades from a strong growth
performance led by exports and by foreign investment (and the East Asian Crisis is likely to
have represented only a temporary correction in this process). Europe’s own growth record,
slower and more mature than that of Asia, has itself been very largely dependent on foreign
trade and investment, and on the success of the open and rules-based multilateral trading
system established under the GATT and now the WTO.

It is in the imperative interest of both regions to see this system strengthened further, and in
particular to see the early launch of a new Round of multilateral trade negotiations. These
negotiations, on the basis of a comprehensive agenda including such key issues as investment
and competition, will be crucial in helping revitalise growth in Asia in the aftermath of the
financial crisis, and in particular in encouraging increased FDI flows to the region. The
further strengthening of the multilateral trading system is even more important for the poorer
countries of Asia, which would stand to lose most from any possible shift of emphasis from
multilateralism towards plurilateral or bilateral trading arrangements – particularly if such
arrangements turn out
to be more trade-diverting than trade-creating, or if the poorer
countries are simply left out.

10

It will therefore be in the joint interest of the EU and its Asian partners to work towards the
further strengthening of the WTO, and for a further reduction in both tariff and non-tariff
barriers around the world. The successful integration of China into the WTO will be crucial
in this respect. At the same time, it will be essential for the developing countries of the region
(no less than for developed countries) to build a sound policy framework to maximise the
opportunities offered by globalisation. The risk otherwise is that the 800 million people living
under the poverty line in Asia will become further marginalised.

It is likewise in our joint interest that the EU and its Asian partners work together to
strengthen global efforts in relation to climate change, and the industrialised and
industrialising countries in the region (particularly Japan, China, and India) have a crucial
It must be
role to play in helping move forward the global environmental agenda.
acknowledged that major Asian countries are already undertaking significant steps to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, even without formal reduction or limitation commitments under
the Kyoto Protocol. The EU, together with other industrial countries, should continue to
support these efforts through technology transfer and related assistance as appropriate.
Continued efforts to ensure a comprehensive global commitment
to combating climate
change will be of critical importance in protecting the interests of future generations in both
our regions, and across the world.

Information has also become global in the 1990s, with the internet and email. The full effects
of this information revolution have yet to be realised, but the scope which it offers for direct
and immediate contact is already transforming our interaction with even the most distant
regions of the world. Access to information will be a crucial determinant of any society’s
ability to respond to these new opportunities, and the closing of the “digital divide”, both
within and among our societies, will be of critical importance here.

3.

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EU AND ASIAN COUNTRIES : TAKING STOCK

The EU’s relations with Asian countries have certainly evolved tremendously over recent
years, and there is no doubt that the balanced and comprehensive approach called for in the
1994 Strategy has played an essential part in modernising our relations with this vast region.
Much has been achieved since 1994, even if there is still a great potential for strengthening
our relations further.

Since 1994, our political dialogue with key partners in the region has developed
considerably, with new Summit dialogues in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and with
China, India, Japan and (soon) Korea, with the ongoing EU-ASEAN dialogue, including
active EU participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and with continuing high-
level contacts with Australia and New Zealand. The EU has continued to make an active
contribution to peace and security issues in the region, for example in our assistance for the
establishment of democratic government
in Cambodia and East Timor, our support for
refugees in and from Afghanistan, and in our support for the inter-Korean dialogue and our
contribution to KEDO. The EU has also established an important human rights dialogue with
China (and hopes to develop such a dialogue with North Korea); in Indonesia we are actively
supporting efforts towards the strengthening of governance and civil society participation;
and in relation to Burma/Myanmar and Pakistan the EU continues to encourage any opening
towards democracy.

11

These are solid foundations on which we can build in enhancing our dialogue with the
countries of the region. We should be able to discuss issues on which we may have differing
views as well as identify areas of shared concern. We should emphasise areas where the EU
and its Asian partners can work together in addressing the global challenges which face us
all. And we should intensify joint efforts to strengthen the international institutions on which
we all depend.

The institutional framework for our relations with Asian countries varies,10 and only a few
countries in the region have as yet entered into fully comprehensive (“third-generation”)
cooperation agreements with the EC. In this respect, Asia lags well behind other regions,
such as Latin America, the Mediterranean and the CIS. Upgrading the institutional basis for
our relations with key partners in Asia would allow for a more coherent approach to all
relevant issues (in the political and security fields as well as on economic and development
issues), would create a powerful stimulus for the intensification of our dialogue and
cooperation in all areas, and would give a clear public signal of the commitment of both
parties to raise our relationship to a new level.

The EU and India : a partnership between the world’s largest democracies

The EU-India partnership reached a turning-point with our first Summit Meeting, in Lisbon in June
2000. The Summit agreed to build a coalition of interest in addressing global challenges such as the
promotion of peace and security, the elimination of nuclear weapons, the fight against terrorism and
international crime, and climate change, as well as setting an agenda to help us work together to fully
utilise the huge economic and commercial potential of our respective markets, and reinforce our
cooperation in the fields of research, science and technology11

The EU is also committed to work closely with India to address the challenge of eliminating poverty.
Since 1994, EC support for social reform in India, particularly in the primary education and basic
health sectors, has yielded impressive results.

Our trade and investment relations with Asia have expanded substantially, notwithstanding
the substantial medium-term impact of the “East Asian Crisis” which erupted in 1997. In
2000 Asia accounted for 21.1% of total EU exports, making Asia our third-largest regional
trading partner12. On the investment side Asia as a whole remained the fourth-largest regional
investment destination for the EU, accounting for 6.8% of EU outward FDI flows and 9.2%
of EU outward FDI stocks in 1999, the latest year for which figures are available. 13 However,
the bulk of EU outward FDI continues to go to North America, and EU FDI flows to South-

10

11

12

13

The EC is bound by comprehensive cooperation agreements (including clauses related to the
commitment of both partners to human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, and to the
eventual suspension of the agreement) with five countries in Asia – Nepal, Laos, Cambodia,
Bangladesh and South Korea; a similar agreement, not yet concluded or signed, has been negotiated
with Pakistan. Similar agreements (but without a suspension clause) govern the EC’s relations with
four countries – India, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam – and with Macao. An older style of
cooperation agreement is still in force with nine of the member countries of ASEAN (Vietnam, Laos
and Cambodia having acceded to this in addition to their separate, later bilateral agreements), and with
China. Our relations with Australia, New Zealand and Japan are governed by Joint Declarations.
The Commission adopted in July a draft Council decision for scientific and technological cooperation
between the European Community and the Government of the Republic of India
Asia, with 21.1% of our exports (extra-EU) in 2000, came after Europe outside the EU (30.9%) and
NAFTA (28.4%), but accounted for more of our external trade than the Mediterranean, South &
Central America, the Gulf and the ACP countries combined (17.1%).
Asia’s 6.8% share of EU outward FDI in 1999 put it in fourth place, after NAFTA (67.5%) and Central
& South America (15.1%), and only a fraction behind Europe outside the EU (7.5%).

12

East Asia in particular have not yet recovered from the East Asian Crisis. Both in our
bilateral dialogue with key partners in the region, and in the WTO, the EU has worked
consistently to reduce barriers to our two-way trade and investment and to enhance the
institutional, legal and regulatory climate facing our economic operators. We have also made
great efforts through our economic cooperation programmes such as Asia Invest to encourage
European SMEs to better utilise the trade and investment opportunities available in Asia.

The EU and Japan : expanding our cooperation

Japan is the EU’s second-largest export market (after the US), and a major investor in the EU. A
healthy Japanese economy is of critical importance for our own prosperity as well as that of their
regional neighbours. But our relations with Japan go far beyond the purely economic, with an
increasing cooperation on global and regional issues, expressed in particular in the new “Action
Plan” to be adopted at the 2001 EU-Japan Summit. Building on this, our task in the coming years
will be to express this global partnership in concrete terms, whether in the political, economic or
social field, both in multilateral institutions and in our bilateral relations.

We must however strengthen further our dialogue and cooperation with Asia on trade and
investment issues, and on broader macro-economic policy matters. Both in the WTO, and in
our bilateral discussions with Asian partners, we should redouble our efforts to enhance the
open multilateral framework for trade and investment, to remove non-tariff barriers to trade
and investment, and to enhance the legal, regulatory and technical framework for our
economic operators. We should continue our work to improve trade access for the poorest
developing countries (a responsibility incumbent also on the more advanced developing
countries in Asia). And we should build a stronger dialogue on economic and financial policy
issues,
sharing our own experience on regional macro-economic cooperation, and
encouraging the broader use of the euro as an international currency.

€

Our cooperation funding for the developing countries in Asia has grown moderately in
438 million per year in 1996-2000 (development aid and
recent years, averaging some
€
363 million per year in 1991-1995. There has
economic cooperation combined), as against
however been a significant evolution in terms of focus (with more than 80% of our
development aid for Asia going to the low-income countries), while new programmes in
mutually-beneficial economic cooperation have been introduced with particular interest for
the more advanced countries in the region. Taking EC and Member-State aid efforts together,
the EU continues to account for 30% of total ODA flows to Asia.14

The bulk of this assistance has been focused on direct poverty-reduction measures, for
example through support for the health and education sectors, rural development, and
institutional capacity-building. The environment sector has also received significant support,
with substantial programmes
forest protection, biodiversity, and
environmental technology. Attention has also been paid to strengthening the economic links
between our two regions, both in helping upgrade the trade and investment climate, and in
promoting contact between economic operators in the two regions.

in areas

such as

Much remains to be done, however, to ensure that EU aid programmes in Asia can achieve
their full potential. The Commission has already launched a far-reaching reform of the

14

In 1998-99, on average, EU donors as a whole accounted for 30.4% of total ODA flows to Asia,
coming after Japan (50.9%) but well ahead of the USA (9.2%). This can be compared with an EU share
of 47.5% of ODA flows world-wide, compared to 27.2% for Japan, and 16.2% for the USA. (DAC
figures).

13

external assistance programmes,

full and effective
management of our
implementation of these reforms will be an immediate priority for us. The allocation of our
aid funding should fully reflect the focus on poverty reduction in the Commission’s recent
Communication on Development Policy.15 We should strengthen our economic cooperation
with Asia, in our mutual interest, and we should continue to ensure that environmental
considerations are fully integrated within our cooperation activities, while strengthening our
work in such key fields as energy, environmental technology and biodiversity.

and the

€

The EC also provides substantial humanitarian assistance in Asia. Over the three years
from 1998 to 2000, an average of
77.4m per year was provided in humanitarian assistance
following natural or man-made disasters in Asia. This accounted for 12.8% of the EC’s
humanitarian assistance efforts world-wide. In the year 2000 alone, humanitarian assistance
was provided to well over a dozen countries in Asia, according to needs. Particular efforts
were made in relation to Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, North Korea, Mongolia,
the Philippines, Thailand (Burmese refugees) and East Timor. At the beginning of this year a
substantial contribution was made for the victims of the earthquake in Gujarat in India. Work
on disaster prevention has also continued, with a second phase of the DipEcho programme
funded in 2000. 16

One element which does not seem to have evolved greatly is the degree of mutual
awareness between our two regions, with stereotypes on both sides still casting Europe as
introspective and old-fashioned, and Asia as a distant and exotic continent, presenting more
challenges than opportunities. Much more needs to be done to raise the profile of Europe in
Asia. It will be imperative to strengthen and expand the network of EC Delegations in the
region.17

The EU and emerging East Asia : ASEAN and China

Growth has resumed in most of the emerging economies of East Asia following the economic
crisis, and their ongoing transformation is changing the face of the region. The EU’s political
and economic relations with these countries have deepened considerably since 1994,
accompanied by a broadening in our range of cooperation activities

Our relations with China continue to intensify, through frequent contacts at all levels, from
annual Summits to expert meetings. The successful EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in
the scene for further strengthening this longstanding
Vientiane in December 2000 set
relationship, and the EU plays an increasingly active role in the ASEAN Regional Forum

The continued intensification of our relations with these countries, and the concrete results
being achieved, will be a litmus test for EU-Asia relations in the coming years.

In addition, it will be important to strengthen our educational and cultural exchanges with the
region (within our economic cooperation programmes), to broaden and intensify the range of
seminars and conferences bringing together think-tanks and policy-makers from both regions,
and to strengthen information and communications activities through our Delegations and
through the Internet.

15

16

17

“The European Community’s Development Policy”, COM(2000) 212, 26 April 2000.
Asia was the third-largest beneficiary of EC humanitarian assistance in the period 1998-2000, coming
after ex-Yugoslavia (36.8% of total commitments) and the ACP countries (24.4%), and followed by the
CIS countries (7.9%), Middle East & North Africa (6.3%), and Latin America (6.1%).
The EU currently has twelve Delegations in the region, in Colombo, Dhaka, Islamabad, New Delhi,
Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta, Manila, Beijing (plus an Office in Hong Kong), Seoul, Tokyo, and Canberra.
Two of these (Hanoi and Colombo) have been opened since 1994.

14

4.

OBJECTIVES, PRIORITIES AND ACTION POINTS

4.1.

General objectives and priorities

The general policy objectives of the EU in its relations with Asia, as with other parts of the
world, are set out in the EC and EU Treaties. To translate these general objectives into clear
strategic priorities and action-points, our approach should be coherent and comprehensive,
and should respond to the diversity of Asia. It should be realistic and focused, setting clear
priorities which can be addressed within the resources available to us. It should emphasise the
comparative advantage of the EU, and the value-added which we can offer – reflecting for
example the EU’s role as the largest single market in the world and the largest source of
global FDI, and as the largest single source of ODA and of humanitarian assistance. It should
also emphasise those areas where the EU’s own experience and diversity may be of particular
relevance in addressing issues such as regional cooperation and social policy.

In particular, our approach should reflect tomorrow’s agenda, the forward-looking agenda
of an enlarged European Union, and the implications of that for our relations with Asia in
each of the three pillars. In this context, and taking account of the overall objectives of the
EU, of the achievements and unfinished business of past years, and of the new challenges
now to be faced, we can set one clear core objective to guide the future development of EU-
Asia relations into the coming decade: we must focus on strengthening the EU’s political
and economic presence across the region, and raising this to a level commensurate with
the growing global weight of an enlarged EU.

In order to meet this objective, we should in particular work to :

– contribute to peace and security in the region and globally, through a broadening of our

engagement with the region;

– further strengthen our mutual trade and investment flows with the region;

– promote the development of the less prosperous countries of the region, addressing the

root causes of poverty;

– contribute to the spreading of democracy, good governance and the rule of law;

– build global partnerships and alliances with Asian countries, in appropriate international
fora, to help address both the challenges and the opportunities offered by globalisation,
and to strengthen our joint efforts on global environmental and security issues;

– and help strengthen the awareness of Europe in Asia (and vice versa)

4.2.

Action points for the region as a whole

A. In contributing to peace and security in the region and globally, the EU should work in
particular to

• strengthen our engagement with Asia in relation to old and new global and regional
security issues, both in our bilateral and regional relations, and in the UN framework. The
EU should in particular play a pro-active role in regional cooperation fora such as the
ARF, and in inter-regional dialogues such as ASEM;

15

• support conflict prevention efforts, and promote an enhanced sharing of experience
between Europe and Asia concerning longer-term confidence-building measures. The
Commission will
in particular be guided by its recent Communication on conflict
prevention,18 emphasising preventive action in a framework of international cooperation
and coordination, and mobilising all Community instruments more effectively;

• strengthen our dialogue and cooperation with Asia in relation to justice and home affairs
issues. Areas such as visa, asylum, immigration and other policies related to the free
movement of persons are increasingly important in our relations with Asia as with other
regions. In addition to addressing these issues, we should also strengthen our joint efforts
to combat transnational crime, for example in areas such as the fight against drugs,
trafficking in human beings, trafficking in arms, money-laundering, the exploitation of
migrants, and fighting corruption.

In our political and security relations with Asia, we should :

– strengthen our engagement on regional and global security issues;

– strengthen our dialogue and cooperation on conflict prevention issues;
– and enhance our cooperation on justice and home affairs issues.

B. In strengthening our mutual trade and investment flows with Asia, the EU should work
in particular to :

• further develop our bilateral economic relations with Asian partners, in particular by
strengthening our efforts to improve market access and investment conditions on both
sides, and by helping those countries which are seeking to build a business climate
conducive to trade and investment. Intensified efforts to reduce technical barriers to trade,
and to promote transparency and predictability in the legislative and regulatory context,
will be of particular importance here. We should also work to strengthen our cooperation
with regional groupings like ASEAN (which are a force for liberalisation and progress on
trade and investment issues), and examine means of reinforcing our trade and investment
links with the Asian countries in general;

• help strengthen private-sector cooperation between Europe and Asia, in our mutual
interest, through support for contacts between economic operators in Europe (particularly
SMEs) and in Asia. A particular attention should also be paid to the high-technology
sectors which will help determine our common future, such as information and
communications technology, transport and energy. The EIB will continue to play its role
in supporting European investment in the region ;

• strengthen our dialogue on economic and financial policy, and encourage sound policy
reform in the financial and corporate sector. Europe’s own experience in regional
cooperation on economic and financial policy may be of particular interest to Asia, and we
should in addition encourage Asia to take maximum advantage of the new possibilities
offered by the euro.

18

“Conflict Prevention” (COM(2001) 211, 11 April 2001).

16

• enhance market access for the poorest developing countries, for example through the
effective implementation of the recently agreed “Everything But Arms” initiative and the
continued enhancement of our GSP system, and in line with existing EC policies. We
should also encourage the middle-income countries in the region to strengthen their own
contribution in this area.

• Take into account the essential role of transport in the continuation and development of
trade between Europe and Asia and the growing inter-dependence of Europe and Asia in
energy supply and demand. Furthermore, co-operation between Europe and Asia on
energy use both in transport and in industry will be necessary in order to attempt to meet
the climate change objectives of the Kyoto Protocol

In enhancing our economic and commercial links with Asian partners, we should :

– work to strengthen our bilateral economic relations, reducing non-tariff barriers to trade and

facilitating investment, and helping build a pro-development policy climate;

– support cooperation between economic operators in our two regions;

– strengthen our policy dialogue on economic and financial issues, and promote the use of the

euro internationally;

– continue to ensure favourable market access for the poorest developing countries;
– Recognise the role of transport and energy in our trade relations as well as the impact

of both sectors on the environment.

C.

In promoting development in the region, the EU should in particular :

• strengthen our efforts towards poverty reduction, particularly in the poorest countries of
the region, and contribute to the achievement of the International Development Targets by
2015. This will be achieved through a strengthened focus on key poverty issues and new
ways of working as set out in the Joint Commission and Council Statement on EC
Development Policy;19 themes of particular interest for Asia shall include trade and
development, sector programmes in social areas (notably health and education), economic
and social governance and institutional capacity-building, and the link between
environmental conservation and poverty;

• strengthen our dialogue on social policy issues, sharing Europe’s own experience in
addressing the challenges of modernisation and globalisation. There is much to be gained
from dialogue and exchange of best practice on the links between trade and social
development, including the promotion of core labour standards.20. There is no single
“European model” of social governance, but Europe’s own diversity, and our long
experience of working to combine economic dynamism with social equity, may be of
particular interest to many Asian partners;

• and pursue vigorously the reform of the management of EC external assistance,21

ensuring that our scarce resources are used to the best possible effect;

In promoting development, the EU must work together with our Asian partners to :

19

20

21

Declaration of Development Council, November 2000.
“Promoting core labour standards and improving social governance in the context of globalisation”
(COM (2001) 416, 18.7.2001).
“Reform of the Management of External Assistance” (SEC(2000) 814, 16 May 2000).

17

– help reduce poverty in the poorest developing countries of the region;

– strengthen our dialogue on social policy issues;
– while completing the reform of our own aid management.

D. In contributing to the spreading of democracy, good governance and the rule of law,
and respect
in line with the Commission’s recent
Communication on this subject22:

for human rights, we should,

• work together with Asia to uphold the universality and indivisibility of human rights,
and pursue a constructive dialogue both in bilateral fora (for example in our human rights
dialogue with China), and in regional and multilateral fora, notably in the UN and its
different agencies, in particular the ILO. We should also encourage the signing and
ratification of the principal human rights instruments by those countries who have not yet
done so;

• encourage the strengthening of civil society across the region, and promote a broader

civil society dialogue between our two regions;

• and mainstream human rights and governance issues in our cooperation activities with

Asia.

In contributing to democratisation, good governance and the rule of law, and respect for
human rights we should strengthen our bilateral and multilateral dialogue with our Asian
partners, encourage civil society dialogue, and ensure that human rights and governance
issues are mainstreamed in our cooperation activities.

In building global partnerships and alliances with Asian partners, we should in

E.
particular :

• work together to strengthen our cooperation in the United Nations, for example in
working for the early and comprehensive ratification of major international instruments
such as the CTBT or the conventions on small arms and anti-personnel mines, and for a
future global anti-corruption instrument; enhancing the non-proliferation regime and
efforts to control other weapons of mass destruction; working for the reform of the UN
system including a comprehensive reform of the Security Council in all its aspects;
working to strengthen UN peacekeeping efforts through the support of a timely
implementation of the recommendations contained in the Brahimi Report; and reinforcing
the functioning of the UN system by encouraging a prompt and full payment by all
partners of contributions based on the new scales of assessment including arrears;

• strengthen the open and rules-based international framework embodied in the WTO, both
through building support
for the early launching and successful completion of a
comprehensive new Round of multilateral trade negotiations, and through working for the
early accession of China and other Asian countries/economies who have yet to become
members. A multilateral approach is the only realistic way forward in promoting our joint
interests, and in safeguarding the particular interests of the poorest developing countries;

22

“The EU’s role in promoting human rights and democratisation in third countries” (COM(2001) 252,
8 May 2001).

18

• address global, regional and local environmental challenges, working together

in
international fora to strengthen our joint efforts in relation to climate change and the
deterioration of the global commons, and in supporting efforts to promote sustainable
resource management and to address urban and industrial environmental problems.
Climate change, for example, poses a serious threat to a number of countries in Asia, and
we should redouble our efforts to work with the more advanced developing countries in
Asia on these issues. We should also take care to integrate environmental considerations
into all areas of bilateral and inter-regional cooperation, including our scientific and
technological cooperation efforts;

• strengthen our dialogue and cooperation with Asia in relation to global challenges, and in
particular the fight against transnational crime, against terrorism, corruption, xenophobia,
racism and fundamentalism of all kinds, and against epidemic disease (including
HIV/AIDS in particular), while working also to enhance the access of the poorer countries
in Asia to the global opportunities offered by new technologies, and helping diminish the
knowledge and digital divides;

• and address

the need for

scientific and technological
reinforced inter-regional
cooperation to foster common analyses of and solutions to shared regional and global
problems.

In building global partnerships with our Asian partners, we shall in particular work together
to:

– strengthen the work of the United Nations and its different agencies;
– strengthen the open international trading system embodied in the WTO;

– safeguard the global environment;
– and combat global challenges while maximising global opportunities.

F.
In increasing the awareness of the EU in Asia, expressing better our economic and
political presence in the region, and building on both the adoption of the single currency and
the pursuit of a more effective common foreign and security policy, we should in particular :

• raise the EU’s profile across Asia, strengthening and broadening our network of
Delegations across the region, enhancing EU coordination at all levels, and intensifying
information and communication efforts across
indicated in the
Commission’s recent Communication on the development of the External Service,23 and in
(notably in the context of
addition to strengthening our existing Delegations
deconcentration of aid management),
the Commission also proposes to open new
Delegations in those countries where we are still under-represented politically, taking into
account both trade and cooperation issues.
is proposed that new
Delegations be opened in Malaysia and in Singapore, and in Cambodia, Laos and Nepal..
Consideration will also be given to opening a trade representation office in Taiwan;

the region. As

In particular,

it

• work to strengthen educational, scientific and cultural exchanges with Asia, through
support for enhanced cooperation between higher education institutions, an intensification
of academic, research and student exchanges between our two regions, and the promotion
of structural networks enabling mutually beneficial cooperation. Europe has a great deal to

23

“The Development of the External Service” (COM(2001) 381, 03 July 2001).

19

offer in the field of higher education24 and scientific research, yet the great majority of
Asian students studying abroad tend to go to North America or Australasia as a first
priority. Equally, the number of European academics or students with links to Asia
remains very small, while European Studies remains an underdeveloped field in most
Asian countries;

• promote a strengthening and broadening of civil society partnerships between our two
regions (whether among our parliamentary representatives, local authorities, NGOs, youth
associations, consumer groups, or professional associations), and an intensification of
intellectual contacts and networking in relation to the challenges facing our two regions.

In upgrading the EU’s overall presence in Asia, we should :

– strengthen and expand the network of EC Delegations across the region;
– and work to strengthen educational and cultural exchanges between our two regions, and to

promote enhanced civil society contacts and intellectual exchanges.

4.3.

Action points for the different regions of Asia

The strategic priorities and action points described above set out a common foundation for
relations between the EU and Asian countries across the board, and should guide us (mutatis
mutandis) in developing our relations with Asia as a whole. Reflecting the underlying
diversity of Asia, these general guidelines should be developed further for each of Asia’s sub-
regions and for our key partners across the region, both in our Country Strategies for
development
and in occasional
Communications relating to our major partners. But it is already possible to indicate certain
key issues to which emphasis must be given for each of the major regions of Asia.

cooperation with individual developing countries,

South Asia

The continuing tensions between India and Pakistan (and the imperative need to encourage
progress towards nuclear disarmament, and the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue), as
well as the threat to regional stability posed by terrorism, religious fundamentalism and
ethnic conflict (notably for Afghanistan and Sri Lanka), illustrate the importance of political
and security issues in the Sub-Continent. The EU should reflect more deeply on the major
political challenges facing the region, and be ready to adopt a more assertive and forward-
looking approach to its policy dialogue with the key countries in the region. India’s role as a
regional and global player, and the further enhancement of EU-India relations, will merit our
special attention. An early restoration of parliamentary democracy in Pakistan will be a prime
factor in paving the way for enhanced cooperation with that country.

Doubts regarding globalisation and a new WTO round have perhaps been greater in South
Asia than elsewhere in the region. The EU should take this into account in preparing a
comprehensive economic and commercial strategy towards South Asia, enhancing our
dialogue with the countries of the region on trade and investment liberalisation and policy
reform, and addressing the commercial concerns of both sides. Local strengths in high-tech
sectors, and the ongoing economic reforms in India, should be used to encourage a greater
focus on the Sub-Continent by European economic operators. Efforts towards stronger sub-

24

“Strengthening
(COM(2001)385, 18 July 2001”.

cooperation with

third

countries

in

the

field

of

higher

education

20

regional economic cooperation within SAARC should be encouraged, as well as a stronger
integration of South Asia within the broader Asian region (for example through a broadening
of Asian participation in ASEM). The enhancement of mutual awareness between our two
regions will continue to be a priority.

In our relations with South Asia generally, we should strengthen our dialogue and
cooperation on security issues, on economic and commercial
issues, and on poverty
reduction; priority will also be given to issues of human rights and conflict prevention.

For India in particular, the strengthening of our bilateral cooperation on political, economic
and social cooperation should go hand-in-hand with enhanced partnership on global issues.

Support for poverty reduction efforts will be at the core of EU cooperation efforts. To
maximise the impact of our limited resources, our work in areas such as health and education
will
increasingly focus on sectoral support and policy modernisation. We will work
increasingly with regional and local authorities as well as national-level administrations. The
role of NGOs will be crucial, and contacts between civil society groups in Europe and in the
region should be encouraged. Trade development and economic reform will be given a
special emphasis, since broader-based growth and an enhanced trade and investment climate
will be essential for poverty reduction across the region. Coordination of EC and Member-
States’ cooperation efforts has already shown its efficacy in responding to the Gujarat
earthquake, and this should serve as a best-practice model for the further strengthening of
complementarity and concerted action among all EU donors.

South-East Asia

ASEAN, and the ASEAN Regional Forum, will continue to be the major focus of our
political and security dialogue with South-East Asia, and it will be important for the EU to
play a pro-active role in the ARF. More generally, our dialogue with ASEAN and its member
countries should help identify areas where ASEAN and the EU can work together on global
security questions, and on global challenges such as drugs and transnational crime. We
should continue to give full support to conflict prevention efforts within the region (for
example in the Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos and in Burma/Myanmar), and to civil
society efforts to promote transparency, good governance and the rule of law. And in our
political dialogue with ASEAN and its member countries we should give attention to human
rights issues.

In our economic relations with ASEAN and its member countries, we should work together
to strengthen the WTO, to encourage trade and investment facilitation, and to help pursue
financial and economic reform. Support for enhanced contact between economic operators in
the two regions will be important, particularly in new-technology sectors. Efforts to enhance
educational, intellectual and cultural links will likewise be strengthened.

For the low-income countries in the region, we should support those governments that are
committed to reducing poverty, while in the more advanced economies a particular effort
should be made to encourage social policy reform efforts, and to address urban and
environmental issues. Support for improving the climate for trade and investment will make a
crucial contribution to development and economic growth in all countries. Civil society
efforts to address poverty, governance and social policy issues will continue to deserve our
support, and dialogue among civil society groups in our two regions will be encouraged.

21

The further strengthening of our long-standing partnership with ASEAN will be a key
priority in the coming years. This should be reflected both in a strengthened and
comprehensive dialogue with ASEAN as a whole, and in the enhancement of our bilateral
relations with key ASEAN partners. We should also provide active support for reinforced
regional integration, on the basis of mutual solidarity within ASEAN.

Indonesia, as the largest country in the region (and the fourth most populous country in the
influence across the region, and any further
world) will continue to exert a dominant
deterioration in the situation there could have the gravest effect on its neighbours. The EC
will continue to apply the strategy spelt out in last year’s Communication on Indonesia,25
while reflecting further on how best to strengthen our political, economic and cooperation
relations with that country.

The EU-ASEAN relationship has since the 1970s been a constant factor in our partnerships
with Asia. Recent developments in the region make it even more important to strengthen further
our cooperation in all areas – political, economic & social. Particular attention will be given to
enhancing mutual understanding and to developing global partnerships, as well as to the need
to further strengthen our relations with key ASEAN partners.

North-East Asia

Strengthening our relations with China will be a major opportunity, and challenge, for the
EU for years to come. China has firmly established itself as a regional power, and the
Chinese economy, boosted by large inflows of foreign investment and technology, is rapidly
moving up the technological ladder. China is already becoming a major competitor to
developed economies in the region and beyond, and WTO accession will certainly bring a
further increase in economic efficiency and competitiveness. This increasing economic power
is likely to translate into growing Chinese assertiveness on the regional and international
scene.

It is a clear EU interest to ensure that China plays a constructive and cooperative role both in
the region and in the world. In building on our long-term aims for the bilateral relationship
defined in 1998 and amplified in 2001,26 we will therefore seek to engage China further on
both bilateral and global issues. In particular, we will work to :

– ensure that China continues to develop in a sustainable way which will help it to play a

constructive and cooperative role;

– engage China further in the international community, through a continued strengthening

and focusing of our political dialogue;

– support China’s transition to an open society through a more focused and results-oriented

human rights dialogue, working with China to support relevant reforms;

25

26

“Developing Closer Relations between Indonesia and the EU” (COM(00) 50, 2.02.00).
The long-term aims spelt out in the Commission’s 1998 Communication (“Building a comprehensive
partnership with China” – COM(98) 181, 25.03.98) remain broadly valid today, and have been given a
more medium-term focus in our 2001 Communication – “Report on EU strategy towards China:
implementation of the 1998 Communication and future steps for a more effective EU policy”
(COM(2001) 265).

22

– support China’s integration in the world economy, by promoting its rapid accession to the
WTO, using our assistance programmes and upgrading our dialogue in key policy areas to
help make WTO accession and the social and economic reform process a success;

– and enhance the effectiveness of our assistance to China, focusing our programmes on
three main areas : support to the reform process, promotion of sustainable development,
scientific and technological cooperation27, encouragement of good governance initiatives
and promotion of the rule of law.

As regards the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions (SARs), the EU will
seek to ensure that the autonomy of the two SARs is upheld, within the “one country, two
systems” principle enshrined in the Basic Laws of each SAR. This is a central plank of EU
policy towards the territories and a major component of our relationship with China as a
whole. The Commission policy documents of 1997 and 1999 regarding our relations with
each Region28 put our relations with the two SARs on a more permanent footing and
committed the EU to observing developments and to producing annual reports on each.

Taiwan, which the EU recognises as a separate customs territory, but not as a sovereign state,
is the EU’s third-largest bilateral trading partner in Asia. Its pending accession to WTO
should contribute to a further increase in trade and investment flows and related dialogues.
The EU is convinced that the cross-straits issue can only be resolved peacefully, and on the
basis of a constructive dialogue.

With respect to Japan, bilateral relations have developed considerably since the signing of
the Joint Declaration in 1991, and a regular and wide-ranging dialogue has been established.
This largely reflects a growing mutual awareness of shared interests, for instance in the
continued health of the multilateral system, common challenges such as environmental
degradation and the ageing society, and shared values such as the rule of law and human
rights. The long economic stagnation in Japan has, however, caused concern from the point
of view of possible adverse effects on the global economy and on growth prospects for
developing countries in Asia, as well as depressing demand for EU exports and aggravating
further the large bilateral imbalance. Moreover, cooperation between the EU and Japan in the
field of foreign policy is growing, but could be considerably strengthened as recognised at the
EU/Japan Summit in July 2000.

Against this background, priority actions include :

– the adoption of a joint action plan at the EU-Japan Summit in 2001, which will identify a
set of cooperation initiatives giving political visibility and tangible content
to the
relationship over the coming decade. This will help us move from dialogue to closer
policy coordination and concrete joint activities in the political and security, economic,
justice and social fields;

– a streamlined Regulatory Reform Dialogue with the aim of reviving the Japanese economy
through opening markets further and stimulating inflows of direct investment from the EU;

27

28

Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and the
Government of the People’s Republic of China (JO L6/40, 11.1.2000).
“The EU and Hong Kong : beyond 1997” (COM(97) 171, 23.04.97); “The EU and Macau : beyond
2000” (COM(1999) 484, 12.11.1999).

23

– deepening EU/Japan cooperation at the multilateral level, both in the WTO with the
immediate objective of launching a New Round at Doha, and in the field of environment,
aiming at ratification and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol;

– encouraging Japan to engage further with its immediate neighbours in the fields of non-

proliferation, human rights, rule of law, etc.

to the Korean Peninsula have included the
Major recent developments with respect
considerable steps forward in political liberalisation and economic reform in South Korea
under President Kim Dae-Jung; the beginning of a thaw in inter-Korean relations with the
“sunshine policy” of President Kim and his summit meeting last year with the North Korean
President Kim Jong-il; and, in our bilateral relations, the coming into force on 1 April 2001 of
the EU South Korea Framework Agreement and its attached political declaration, underlining
the increasing strength of our economic and political relations, as well as the recent opening
of diplomatic relations with the DPRK. Immediate priorities for action will include :

– encouragement to South Korea to persevere on the path of economic reform;

– continued support for the inter-Korean reconciliation process, developing the EU’s own
dialogue with North Korea on the basis of the principles decided by the Council in
October and November 2000 (respect for human rights; non proliferation; economic
reform). This will include a measured expansion of the Commission’s assistance activities
to help in the critical early stages of economic reform, and the encouragement of further
opening by North Korea to the outside world;

– effective implementation of the Framework Agreement,

the
enhancement of our two-way trade and investment relations, together with appropriate
cooperation initiatives in our mutual interest;

including in particular

– continued cooperation with South Korea in the context of the WTO.

In enhancing our relations with the countries of North-East Asia, we will in particular work to:
– strengthen our engagement with China, and support its integration into the world economy and

transition to an open society;

– build an enhanced global and regional partnership with Japan, on political, economic and

social issues;

– deepen our partnership with South Korea, while supporting the inter-Korean reconciliation

process;

– and strengthen our economic and commercial relations with the region as a whole, while

encouraging necessary reforms.

Australasia

Our relations with Australia and New Zealand have developed positively in recent years and
are no longer dominated to the same extent as previously by agricultural trade issues. Indeed,
these countries are now important overall trade and investment partners of the EU, and are
increasingly important as political partners, representing a substantial force for stability in the
broader Asia-Pacific region. At the multilateral level too, there is scope for the EU to deepen
our cooperation with Australia and New Zealand.

Priorities for action include :

24

– further expanding two-way trade and investment, but, also seeking out worthwhile
cooperation initiatives for instance in the fields of education, science and technology,
research, development, migration policies, in order to deepen the relationship further.

– building stronger alliances at the multilateral level, most particularly in the WTO, with a
view to launching a New Round at Doha, and in the field of environment with a view to
ratifying and implementing the Kyoto Protocol.

– intensifying political and development assistance cooperation in the region.

In enhancing relations with Australia and New Zealand, we will in particular work to

– expand our economic and commercial relations, while deepening our broader cooperation;
– and strengthen our cooperation on global and regional issues.

Regional fora

In contrast to our relations with Latin America or with the Mediterranean or ACP countries,
there is no one inter-regional forum in which Europe and Asia interact. The EU has a
longstanding relationship with South-East Asia, through our partnership with ASEAN dating
back to the late 1970s. In South Asia, we have worked to intensify our relations with SAARC
since the 1990s. And with East Asia, the ASEM process has evolved rapidly since its
beginnings in 1996.

The potential for strengthening EU-ASEAN and EU-SAARC relations has already been
addressed elsewhere in this paper. The ARF (which has a particular interest as one of the rare
regional fora with South Asian participation) will continue to increase in importance as its
activities intensify, and the EU will certainly take a pro-active role in this essential forum.

The Commission has emphasised the importance which it attaches to the ASEM process29,
and the scope which it offers for enhancing Asia-Europe dialogue and cooperation on a basis
of equal partnership and mutual respect. The ASEM process has offered an excellent example
of inter-regional cooperation, and we will continue to work to ensure that it can make
progress in each of its “three pillars” (political, economic and social). In particular, we should
draw fully on ASEM’s potential as a forum for an informal exchange of views promoting
increased understanding and enhanced cooperation, and to use this to build concrete
achievements in the various priority areas identified in the Asia-Europe Cooperation
Framework adopted at the Seoul Summit. ASEM also offers an important opportunity to
in Asia-Europe relations30, and we should
strengthen and broaden public engagement
encourage parliamentary and civil society participation in this process.

The value of the ASEM process will be further enhanced through a broader participation. The
Commission would welcome an enlargement of Asian participation in ASEM to include key
representatives of the Sub-Continent, as well as Australia and New Zealand (just as the EU’s
participation in ASEM should in due course be enlarged in line with the enlargement of the
Union itself). More generally, we shall continue to follow with interest the development of

29

30

Most recently in the Commission Working Document “Perspectives and Priorities for the ASEM
Process into the New Decade” (COM(00) 241, 18.4.00).
Useful work in these areas has already been taken forward, for example through ASEF (the Asia-
Europe Foundation) and through independent NGO activities, and through AEBF (the Asia-Europe
Business Forum).

25

other regional fora in the broader Asia-Pacific region, such as APEC and ASEAN + 3, as well
as of new sub-regional groupings such as the West Pacific Forum.

In further enhancing our regional dialogue with our Asian partners, notably within the ASEM
framework, we will use this informal forum as a leading example of a successful EU-Asia
partnership, addressing political, economic and social issues in a balanced and comprehensive
fashion, based on mutual interest and equal partnership, and helping Europe and Asia to
enhance their voice on the global stage. Enlarged participation in ASEM will further enhance
its value, and its ability to promote regional stability, support multilateralism, raise mutual
awareness, and strengthen the position and profile of the EU in Asia.

5.

IMPLEMENTATION AND RESOURCES

In order to take account of the specificities of individual countries, it will of course be
necessary to build on and amplify this framework through our sub-regional strategies,31 and
in Country Strategy Papers (which focus on development cooperation). It will also be
essential to ensure that this framework is appropriately reflected in all aspects of the
Commission’s work, ensuring a coherent policy mix across all fields of activity. And a close
and effective coordination among all EU partners will be a sine qua non for strengthening our
relations with Asia, and for enhancing the profile of the EU in Asia.

The present document will in addition serve as an important input for the preparation of a
revised legal basis for our cooperation with Asia. The present ALA Regulation32 was adopted
in 1992 (prior to the adoption of the Commission’s first Asia Strategy). The Commission
intends to review this Regulation in detail in the coming months, with a view to proposing an
update during the first semester of 2002. It is probable that this new Regulation will be split
into separate Regulations for Asia and for Latin America, to help provide for a more specific
response to the particular context and needs of each region. An overall evaluation of ALA
cooperation programmes is now being commenced, and this (together with the results of
earlier evaluations) will be taken into account in appraising the directions to be followed in
the new Regulations33.

While the present Strategic Framework should serve as an effective guideline for our
relations with Asia over the coming decade, it will be important to take stock of progress on a
regular basis, and to respond flexibly to changing circumstances. A substantive review of the
strategy in five or six years’ time would be appropriate. Such a review should for example
assess our achievements on the basis of certain simple (if largely qualitative) indicators,
touching for example on such elements as the evolution of the EU’s trade and investment
relations with Asia, the impact of our policy dialogue and of our development programmes.
the timing of this review, and the indicators against which progress should be measured, will
be considered further during the preparation of the new Regulation.

In order for this Strategic Framework to be fully effective, it is essential that there is a proper
consistency between the objectives being set, and the resources available to meet them (both

31

32

33

As was done following the 1994 Strategy, it may be useful from time to time to prepare individual
Communications on our relations with key partners in Asia, or on key themes in Asia-Europe relations.
Council Regulation (EEC) No 443/92 of 25 February 1992, on financial and technical assistance to,
and economic cooperation with, the developing countries in Asia and Latin America.
Issues such as untying of aid, multiannual strategic programming, comitology shall be considered.

26

in terms of staff and operational resources in headquarters and in the field, and in terms of the
budgetary resources available for our cooperation programmes).

Our first and over-riding priority is to ensure that the available resources are used in an
effective and timely fashion – a task to which the Commission has committed itself fully, and
where the first fruits of the reform of the management of our external assistance are now
being seen. It will be essential that the existing backlog of commitments and payments credits
is absorbed, and that the new funds available each year are programmed effectively and
committed promptly, if the European taxpayer and the intended beneficiaries are to be
properly served. The EC, in partnership with the beneficiary countries, must focus its limited
resources on a smaller number of simpler activities, targeted on the key priorities spelt out
above, and ensure that these activities are implemented rapidly and effectively.

Once this has been achieved, we will be better able to address the longer-term question of
whether and to what extent the level of resources available for our cooperation activities with
Asia should be increased. The EC already devotes 80% of its cooperation funding for Asia to
the poorest countries in the region.34 But it is clear that these resources fall far short of giving
an adequate response to the scale of the problems facing these countries. As was noted above,
Asia accounts for half of the world’s population, and for two-thirds of the world’s poor. Yet
the EC has allocated a very modest proportion of its total cooperation funding to Asia, and on
a per capita basis the volume of EC aid funding going to Asia has been very much less than
that for other regions of the developing world35.

Such allocations of course reflect political choices (for example the priority which the EU
gives to its near neighbours), as well as the historical evolution of the EU’s aid programmes.
In addition, the level of aid funding per se is far less important than the developmental impact
of our trade and investment flows with the region. But once the reform process has been
completed, and we are confident that the limited resources available are being used to their
maximum effect, the EU should consider further the level of development cooperation
funding which we allocate to Asia, taking account of the EU’s financial perspectives and its
global responsibilities, and of the overall context of the EU’s external interventions.

6.

CONCLUSIONS

Asian countries are a crucial economic and political partners for the EU. Quite apart from its
economic and political weight, the region is also the locus of some of the world’s most
critical potential flash-points, and is home to the majority of the world’s poor. Asia and
Europe
are increasingly subject to the same challenges and opportunities arising from
globalisation. Yet too often these two regions may have seemed to be distant partners,

34

35

In 1996-2000, on average, 80% of EC development cooperation funding for Asia went to the poorest
developing countries, including 32% for the least-developed countries in the region (Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal), and 48% for other low-income countries (India, Indonesia, Pakistan,
Vietnam).
In 1998, out of a total of some
6.3 billion in EC cooperation funding disbursements, 7% was allocated
to developing Asia (compared with 6% for Latin America, 9% for the CIS countries, 15% for the
Mediterranean, and 32% for ACP countries). On a per capita basis EC disbursements for developing
1.94 for CIS
Asia represented some
€
4.87 for the ACP countries). Figures from Cox
countries,
& Chapman, “EC external cooperation programmes”, Overseas Development Institute, London, 1999.

3.31 for the Mediterranean countries, and

0.15 per head (compared with

0.74 for Latin America,

€

€

€

€

€

27

focused more on their own concerns, or on their relations with other regions of the world,
than on strengthening their mutual relations.

The Commission’s 1994 Asia Strategy was a first effort to take an integrated, comprehensive
and balanced view of the relations between the EU and its Asian partners. That strategy has
helped considerably in re-focusing our relations with the region, but should now be updated
to take account of the substantial changes in both regions since then, and of the further
changes which are already on the horizon.

While acknowledging the sheer diversity of Asia, and the scale of the economic, political and
cultural differences between and within the different constituent parts of the region as a
whole, we can nevertheless identify one core objective which should guide us in further
developing our relations with Asia. Over the coming decade, we should focus our efforts on
strengthening the EU’s political and economic presence in Asia, raising this to a level more
commensurate with the growing global weight of an enlarged EU.

To achieve this central objective, we must :
• strengthen our engagement with Asia in the political and security fields;
• further strengthen our mutual trade and investment flows with the region;
• demonstrate our effectiveness as a partner in reducing poverty in Asia;
• contribute to the protection of human rights and to the spreading of democracy, good

governance and the rule of law throughout the region;

• build global partnerships with key Asian partners, working together to address the global
opportunities and challenges which face us all and to strengthen our joint efforts on global
environmental and security issues;

• and strengthen further the mutual awareness between our two regions.

A number of concrete action points have been identified in this paper, in the political,
economic and social dimensions, and with respect to our bilateral, regional and multilateral
relations with Asia. More specific priorities have also been addressed as regards our relations
with the different component regions of Asia, with regional powers such as India, Japan and
China and other key partners such as ASEAN, Australia and Korea, and in inter-regional fora
such as ASEM.

The implementation of this strategic framework, and its effectiveness in enhancing the
relations between the EU and its Asian partners, will be kept under close review in the
coming years. We must also ensure that the limited resources available for EC development
and economic cooperation activities with Asia are used to their fullest effect, in order to
highlight the potential for increasing these resources.

More than ever before, it will be imperative for the EU and its Asian partnersto work together
in addressing the global challenges which we both face, and the global opportunities which
we should all be able to share. The Commission for its part will make every effort to enhance
our regional and global partnerships with Asia, and we would invite our Asian partners to
reflect on their side on how we might address these issues together.

- - - - -

(cid:1)

- - - - -

28

List of Acronyms

ANNEX

ACP
AFTA
ALA
APEC
ARF
ASEAN
ASEAN + 3
ASEM
CFSP
CIS
CTBT
DAC
EC
ESDP
EU
FDI
GATT
GSP
KEDO
LLDC
NAFTA
NGOs
ODA
SAARC
SARs

SMEs
WTO

African, Caribbean and Pacific countries
ASEAN Free Trade Area
Asian and Latin American countries
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
ASEAN Regional Forum
Association of South-East Asian Nations
ASEAN plus China, Japan and Korea
Asia-Europe Meeting
Common Foreign and Security Policy
Commonwealth of Independent States
Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty
Development Assistance Committee (OECD)
European Community,
European Security and Defence Policy
European Union
Foreign Direct Investment
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Generalised System of Preferences
Korean Energy Development Organisation
Least-Developed Countries
North American Free Trade Area
non-governmental organisations
Official Development Assistance
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and
Macau)
small and medium enterprises
World Trade Organization

29

Asia, Population and GNP, 1999

Population

GNP

GNP

m.

$ bn.

per capita
$

GNP
(PPP)

$ bn.

GNP
(PPP)
per capita
$

South Asia
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
India
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka

South-East Asia
Brunei
Burma
Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

North-East Asia
China
Hongkong
Macao
Chinese Taipei
Japan
N Korea
S Korea
Mongolia

Australasia
Australia
New Zealand

1.330
26,0
128,0
0,8
998,0
0,3
23,0
135,0
19,0

512
0,3
45,0
12,0
207,0
5,0
23,0
77,0
3,0
62,0
78,0

1.480
1.250,0
7,0
0,5
22,0
127,0
23,0
47,0
3,0

23
19,0
4,0

575
…
47,0
0,4
442,2
0,3
5,1
64,0
15,7

524
…
…
3,0
119,5
1,4
77,3
78,0
95,4
121,0
28,2

5.908
980,2
161,7
…
288,6
4.078,9
…
397,9
0,9

434
380,8
52,7

432
…
370
510
450
1.160
220
470
820

1.022
…
…
260
580
280
3.400
1.020
29.610
1.960
370

3.993
780
23.520
…
13.120
32.230
…
8.490
350

18.848
20.050
13.780

2.658
…
188,3
1,2
2.144,1
1,0
28,5
236,8
58,0

1.571
…
…
15,1
505,0
8,8
180,8
292,9
87,1
345,4
136,1

7.989
4.112,2
144,0
…
…
3.042,9
…
685,7
3,9

490
426,4
63,3

1.998
…
1.475
1.496
2.149
3.545
1.219
1.757
3.056

3.067
…
…
1.286
2.439
1.726
7.963
3.815
27.024
5.599
1.755

5.400
3.291
20.939
…
…
24.041
…
14.637
1.496

21.291
22.448
16.566

Asia

3.345

7.440,2

2.224,3

12.707,5

3.799,1

World

5.975,0

29.232,1

4.890

38.804,9

6.490

Asia %

56,0%

25,5%

32,7%

Source : World Bank,
World Development
Report 2000/2001

30

EU and Candidates, Population and Income, 1999

Population GNP

GNP

m.

$ bn.

per capita
$

GNP
(PPP)

$ bn.

GNP
(PPP)
per capita
$

EU-15

Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom

EU Candidates

Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Poland
Romania
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Turkey

EU + Candidates

375

8,0
10,0
5,0
5,0
59,0
82,0
11,0
4,0
58,0
0,4
16,0
10,0
39,0
9,0
59,0

168

8,0
0,8
10,0
1,0
10,0
2,0
4,0
0,4
39,0
22,0
5,0
2,0
64,0

544

8.213

21.877

7.842

20.890

210,0
250,6
170,3
122,9
1.427,2
2.079,2
124,0
71,4
1.136,0
19,3
384,3
105,9
551,6
221,8
1.338,1

25.970
24.510
32.030
23.780
23.480
25.350
11.770
19.160
19.710
44.640
24.320
10.600
14.000
25.040
22.640

556

3.306

11,3
9,1
52,0
5,0
46,8
6,0
9,7
3,5
153,1
34,2
19,4
19,6
186,3

1.380
11.960
5.060
3.480
4.650
2.470
2.620
9.210
3.960
1.520
3.590
9.890
2.900

192,5
247,4
129,1
109,6
1.293,8
1.837,8
153,8
71,5
1.196,3
16,5
364,3
151,3
659,3
184,4
1.234,4

1.249

40,4
14,0
126,3
11,3
105,5
14,4
22,5
5,7
305,5
126,8
52,9
29,8
394,1

23.808
24.200
24.280
21.209
21.897
22.404
14.595
19.180
20.751
38.247
23.052
15.147
16.730
20.824
20.883

7.427

4.914
18.395
12.289
7.826
10.479
5.938
6.093
15.066
7.894
5.647
9.811
15.062
6.126

8.769

16.131

9.091

16.724

World

5.975,0

29.232,1

4.890

38.804,9

6.490

EU-15 %
EU + Candidates %

6,3%
9,1%

28,1%
30,0%

20,2%
23,4%

Source : World Bank,
World Development
Report, 2000/2001

31

EU Trade with Asia and other regions, 1995-2000

(million euro)

EU
Exports
2000

EU
Imports
2000

1995

% pa
95-00

NORTHEAST ASIA
NE Asia (excl. Japan)
Japan
South Korea
China
Hong Kong
Macao
Taiwan
Mongolia
North Korea

ASEAN
Brunei
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Burma

SOUTH ASIA
India
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Nepal
Bangladesh
Maldives
Bhutan
Afghanistan

AUSTRALASIA
Australia
New Zealand

TOTAL ASIA
Developed Asia
Developing Asia

Europe excl. EU
Cand. Countries (13)
EEA + Switzerland
CIS
SE Europe
Other W. Europe

NAFTA
US
Canada
Mexico

121.859
77.162
44.697
16.356
25.288
20.243
178
14.851
65
181

40.055
272
4.397
8.380
4.358
14.720
6.431
1.227
115
44
112

17.660
13.304
1.905
1.575
85
695
39
11
46

17.857
15.694
2.140

86.177
53.281
32.896
12.331
14.690
15.796
137
10.112
49
165

37.091
625
5.854
7.939
2.291
10.904
8.492
750
75
43
119

12.828
9.440
2.045
720
51
495
28
6
43

12.287
10.500
1.786

197.431
99.331
98.100

148.384
73.447
74.937

289.258
150.415
98.107
27.568
9.619
3.550

265.389
230.947
20.596
13.846

168.700
70.658
69.776
20.820
5.486
1.960

118.168
103.315
10.342
4.511

7,2%
7,7%
6,3%
5,8%
11,5%
5,1%
5,4%
8,0%
5,5%
1,9%

1,5%
-15,3%
-5,6%
1,1%
13,7%
6,2%
-5,4%
10,3%
9,0%
0,8%
-1,3%

6,6%
7,1%
-1,4%
16,9%
10,7%
7,0%
7,2%
13,7%
1,4%

7,8%
8,4%
3,7%

5,9%
6,2%
5,5%

11,4%
16,3%
7,1%
5,8%
11,9%
12,6%

17,6%
17,5%
14,8%
25,1%

218.260
133.255
85.005
24.346
69.673
11.708
858
26.499
50
121

69.310
129
10.833
16.887
8.015
15.853
12.742
3.961
355
130
404

20.240
12.342
2.602
1.891
178
3.046
121
2
57

11.130
8.730
2.386

318.940
133.047
185.893

282.587
117.012
106.188
54.227
4.539
620

222.284
196.946
18.364
6.973

32

1995

111.093
56.794
54.299
10.925
26.343
7.156
532
11.756
31
50

34.670
263
6.109
9.156
2.420
8.760
6.625
1.151
46
72
68

12.159
7.796
1.979
930
143
1.260
20
1
29

6.672
4.975
1.697

164.593
79.584
85.010

153.486
55.468
69.929
24.931
2.763
396

118.589
103.674
11.707
3.208

% pa
95-00

14,5%
18,6%
9,4%
17,4%
21,5%
10,3%
10,0%
17,7%
9,9%
19,2%

14,9%
-13,3%
12,1%
13,0%
27,1%
12,6%
14,0%
28,0%
50,3%
12,5%
43,0%

10,7%
9,6%
5,6%
15,2%
4,5%
19,3%
43,5%
8,6%
14,4%

10,8%
11,9%
7,1%

14,1%
10,8%
16,9%

13,0%
16,1%
8,7%
16,8%
10,4%
9,4%

13,4%
13,7%
9,4%
16,8%

Balance

Share

Share

2000

1995

EU X 00 EU X 95

-96.402
-56.093
-40.308
-7.990
-44.385
8.536
-680
-11.648
14
60

-29.255
143
-6.436
-8.507
-3.658
-1.133
-6.311
-2.734
-240
-86
-293

-2.579
962
-697
-317
-93
-2.351
-82
9
-11

6.727
6.965
-247

-24.916
-3.513
-21.403
1.407
-11.653
8.640
-395
-1.643
18
115

2.421
362
-254
-1.217
-129
2.144
1.867
-401
29
-30
51

669
1.644
67
-210
-92
-765
8
5
13

5.615
5.526
89

-121.509
-33.716
-87.793

-16.210
-6.137
-10.073

6.671
33.403
-8.081
-26.660
5.079
2.930

43.105
34.000
2.232
6.873

15.214
15.190
-153
-4.111
2.723
1.564

-420
-358
-1.365
1.303

13,0%
8,2%
4,8%
1,7%
2,7%
2,2%
...
1,6%
...
...

4,3%
0,0%
0,5%
0,9%
0,5%
1,6%
0,7%
0,1%
...
...
...

1,9%
1,4%
0,2%
0,2%
0,0%
0,1%
...
...
...

1,9%
1,7%
0,2%

21,1%
10,6%
10,5%

30,9%
16,1%
10,5%
2,9%
1,0%
0,4%

28,4%
24,7%
2,2%
1,5%

15,0%
9,3%
5,7%
2,2%
2,6%
2,8%
...
1,8%
...
...

6,5%
0,1%
1,0%
1,4%
0,4%
1,9%
1,5%
0,1%
...
...
...

2,2%
1,6%
0,4%
0,1%
0,0%
0,1%
...
...
...

2,1%
1,8%
0,3%

25,9%
12,8%
13,1%

29,4%
12,3%
12,2%
3,6%
1,0%
0,3%

20,6%
18,0%
1,8%
0,8%

EU Trade with Asia and other regions,

1995-2000
(million euro)

EU
Exports
2000

Other Regions
Mediterranean
South & Central America
Gulf
ACP

160.186
50.788
40.357
31.055
37.987

1995

108.320
33.191
27.884
20.983
26.262

% pa
95-00

8,1%
8,9%
7,7%
8,2%
7,7%

EU
Imports
2000

157.466
44.901
41.326
28.336
42.904

1995

87.392
21.043
27.222
11.482
27.645

% pa
95-00

12,5%
16,4%
8,7%
19,8%
9,2%

Balance

Share

Share

2000

1995

EU X 00 EU X 95

2.720
5.887
-969
2.719
-4.917

20.928
12.148
662
9.501
-1.383

17,1%
5,4%
4,3%
3,3%
4,1%

18,9%
5,8%
4,9%
3,7%
4,6%

World (excl. intra-EU)

935.733

573.277

10,3% 1.022.671

545.253

13,4%

-86.937

28.024

100,0%

100,0%

Source: Eurostat

33

World Trade Shares, 1999
(million euro)

WORLD (intra-EU excluded)
intra-EU
WORLD (intra-EU included)

EU (extra-EU)
EU (extra & intra-EU)

N.East ASIA
Japan
South Korea
China
Hong Kong
ASEAN
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
South Asia
India
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Nepal
Bangladesh
ANZ
Australia
New Zealand
Total Asia
Developed Asia
Developing Asia
NAFTA
USA
Canada
Mexico
Other Regions
Mediterranean (excl Candidates)
Latin America (excl. Mexico)
Gulf
ACP (incl. S. Africa)
Europe (excl. EU)
Candidates (13)
EEA & other
CIS
SE Europe
Source: IMF and Eurostat

Imports
total

%

Exports
total

Total Trade
total

%

%

3.972.000
1.332.800
5.304.800

759.800
2.092.600

877.155
393.334
134.781
182.900
163.066
346.953
53.663
79.332
33.285
107.649
57.983
9.827
53.768
36.787
7.918
4.019
534
4.241
64.004
52.548
11.456
1.341.880
755.185
586.695
998.721
648.060
222.689
127.973
409.663
58.800
151.258
109.855
89.751
358.604
138.127
119.287
94.603
6.587

8.136.100
2.598.600
10.734.700

100,00

100,00

14,32
39,45

16,54
7,41
2,54
3,45
3,07
6,54
1,01
1,50
0,63
2,03
1,09
0,19
1,01
0,69
0,15
0,08
0,01
0,08
1,21
0,99
0,22
25,30
14,24
11,06
18,83
12,22
4,20
2,41
7,72
1,11
2,85
2,07
1,69
6,76
2,60
2,25
1,78
0,12

1.538.900
4.137.500

1.608.582
684.888
247.131
338.390
331.628
636.607
80.826
140.781
62.717
211.865
107.905
22.225
122.003
78.890
17.579
10.237
1.943
12.078
144.971
120.033
24.938
2.512.163
1.408.619
1.103.545
2.350.012
1.631.780
443.726
274.506
839.496
145.398
318.470
187.980
187.648
729.905
326.915
229.467
152.661
20.862

14,34
38,54

14,98
6,38
2,30
3,15
3,09
5,93
0,75
1,31
0,58
1,97
1,01
0,21
1,14
0,73
0,16
0,10
0,02
0,11
1,35
1,12
0,23
23,40
13,12
10,28
21,89
15,20
4,13
2,56
7,82
1,35
2,97
1,75
1,75
6,80
3,05
2,14
1,42
0,19

4.164.100
1.265.800
5.429.900

779.100
2.044.900

731.427
291.555
112.350
155.490
168.562
289.654
27.163
61.449
29.432
104.216
49.923
12.397
68.236
42.102
9.661
6.218
1.409
7.837
80.968
67.486
13.482
1.170.284
653.434
516.850
1.351.291
983.721
221.037
146.533
429.833
86.599
167.212
78.125
97.897
371.302
188.789
110.180
58.058
14.275

100,00

14,35
37,66

13,47
5,37
2,07
2,86
3,10
5,33
0,50
1,13
0,54
1,92
0,92
0,23
1,26
0,78
0,18
0,11
0,03
0,14
1,49
1,24
0,25
21,55
12,03
9,52
24,89
18,12
4,07
2,70
7,92
1,59
3,08
1,44
1,80
6,84
3,48
2,03
1,07
0,26

34

EU Foreign Direct Investment (extra-EU), 1995-1999

Global Total

NE Asia
Hong Kong
China
Japan
Korea
Taiwan
ASEAN 10
Singapore
Malaysia
Thailand
Indonesia
Philippines
India
ANZ
Total Asia
Jap, Kor, Twn, ANZ
as % Total Asia
China, HKG, ASEAN, India
as % Total Asia
NAFTA
United States
Canada
Mexico
Europe extra EU
EFTA
Candidates
CIS

€

share
m.
%
60.805 100,0% 69.086

m.

€

4.042
1.325
715
1.243
366
393
1.747
467
-56
607
614
95
339
3.759
9.887
5.761

4.126

33.668
31.616
1.307
745
9.628
3.469
5.913
246

6,6% 6.633
1.247
2,2%
1.650
1,2%
2.474
2,0%
347
0,6%
0,6%
915
2,9% 4.003
1.534
0,8%
658
-0,1%
800
1,0%
673
1,0%
327
0,2%
342
0,6%
3.633
6,2%
16,3% 14.611
7.369

9,5%
58,3%
6,8%
41,7%
55,4% 27.383
52,0% 25.822
766
2,1%
795
1,2%
15,8% 12.928
6.111
6.130
687

5,7%
9,7%
0,4%

7.242

share
%

€

m.

share
%

€

m.

share
%

€

m.

100,0% 109.147 100,0% 221.641

100,0% 277.729

share
%
100,0%

average
95-99
147.682 100,0%

share
%

2,9% 7.050
-0,0% 2.519
603
1,7%
1,2%
719
0,2% 2.686
-0,1%
523
3,8% -5.609
1,8% -8.870
0,4% 1.061
796
0,7%
254
0,5%
784
0,3%
0,6%
867
2,5% 1.140
9,8% 3.448
3,7% 5.068

9,6% 3.200
1,8%
-51
1.893
2,4%
1.275
3,6%
217
0,5%
1,3%
-134
5,8% 4.163
2.002
2,2%
404
1,0%
729
1,2%
516
1,0%
364
0,5%
621
0,5%
2.695
5,3%
21,1% 10.679
10,7%
4.053
50,4%
10,5%
49,6%
39,6% 52.626 48,2% 139.858
37,4% 48.158 44,1% 133.433
1,3% 5.077
1,1%
2,8% 1.348
1,2%
18,7% 20.822 19,1% 36.590
8,8% 10.879 10,0% 23.600
7,2% 12.028
8,9%
962
1,9%
1,0%

6,1% -1.620

7.885
2.058

1.379
3.089

62,0%

38,0%

6.626

3,2% 16.698
4.481
1,1%
1.109
0,3%
8.921
0,3%
1.627
1,2%
0,2%
560
-2,5% -1.749
-4,0% -5.787
768
0,5%
2.006
0,4%
212
0,1%
700
0,4%
0,4%
1.146
2.722
0,5%
1,6% 18.817
2,3% 13.830

4.987

147,0%
-0,7%
-47,0%
63,1% 187.578
60,2% 182.060
3.759
1.759
16,5% 20.782
5.837
10,6%
5,4% 14.117
828
0,4%

2,3%
0,6%

6,0%
1,6%
0,4%
3,2%
0,6%
0,2%
-0,6%
-2,1%
0,3%
0,7%
0,1%
0,3%
0,4%
1,0%
6,8%
5,0%
73,5%
1,8%
26,5%
67,5%
65,6%
1,4%
0,6%
7,5%
2,1%
5,1%
0,3%

7.525
1.904
1.194
2.926
1.049
451
511
-2.131
567
988
454
454
663
2.790
11.488
7.216

5,1%
1,3%
0,8%
2,0%
0,7%
0,3%
0,3%
-1,4%
0,4%
0,7%
0,3%
0,3%
0,4%
1,9%
7,8%
4,9%
62,8%
2,9%
37,2%
88.223 59,7%
84.218 57,0%
1,7%
2.458
1,0%
1.547
20.150 13,6%
6,8%
6,2%
0,6%

9.979
9.215
956

4.272

35

C & S America (excl
Mexico)
ACP
Gulf, Iran, other MidEast
Mediterranean (MMI)
Source : Eurostat

4.210

6,9% 10.082

14,6% 17.853 16,4% 27.659

12,5% 42.037

15,1%

20.368 13,8%

1.143
486
404

1,9%
0,8%
0,7%

1.923
427
480

2,8%
0,6%
0,7%

2.472
966
991

2,3% 3.141
0,9% 2.816
0,9% 1.531

1,4%
1,3%
0,7%

5.041
2.629
-321

1,8%
0,9%
-0,1%

2.744
1.465
617

1,9%
1,0%
0,4%

36

EC Financial and Technical Cooperati on with Asia,
1976-2000(million euro, commitments)

Developmen
t Coopn.
5-yr Total Annual Av.

Economic
Coopn.
5-yr Total Annual Av.

Total

5-yr Total Annual Av.

1976-80
1981-85
1986-90
1991-95
1996-00

Total 76-00
Source : EC

264,4
703,4
1.079,7
1.627,9
1.761,8

5.437,3

52,9
140,7
215,9
325,6
352,4

37,8
86,1

189,0
430,3

619,3

52,9
140,7
215,9
363,4
438,4

264,4
703,4
1.079,7
1.816,9
2.192,1

6.056,5

37

Total ODA flows to Asia*, 1989 and 1999 Global ODA flows, 1999
(million $, disbursements)

(million $, disbursements)

1988-89 av.

1998-99 av.

EU
Japan
US
Other DAC **

Total
Source : DAC

4.741
4.549
1.170
1.576

39,4%
37,8%
9,7%
13,1%

4.812,6
8.053,2
1.452,6
1.489,0

30,4%
50,9%
9,2%
9,4%

12.036

100,0%

15.807,4

100,0%

1999

26.756
15.323
9.145
5.154

47,5%
27,2%
16,2%
9,1%

56.378

100,0%

EU
Japan
US
Other DAC**

Total
Source : DAC

*

**

Asia including
South, South-
East, North-East
and Central Asia
Other DAC
members :
Australia,
Canada, New
Zealand,
Norway,
Switzerland

38