Increased Relevance for EU Policy and Actions in the South China Sea
Pejsova, Eva | June 2019
Abstract
The EU has always had reason to pay attention to developments in the South China Sea. The world’s largest trading block has a vital economic interest in safeguarding free, safe and stable shipping corridors, especially those connecting it to economic powerhouses in East Asia. Northeast Asian countries constitute the Union’s most important export market and source of FDIs, with China being its second largest trading partner, and trade with Japan alone standing for 25% of global GDP. EU is also ASEAN’s second largest trading partner, and ASEAN is correspondingly the third largest for the EU.
In addition to economic interests, Brussels has also legal and political commitments to regional stability, stemming from its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in 2012 and its membership in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). Finally and most importantly is the rationale behind the SCS disputes: China’s unilateralism and the threat it represents for the rules-based global order that has been keeping Europe, positioning itself as a normative superpower, on its toes.
Citation
Pejsova, Eva. 2019. Increased Relevance for EU Policy and Actions in the South China Sea. © ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/10530.ISSN
2335-6677
Keywords
Regionalism
Regional Economy
Regional Trading Arrangements
Aid And Development
Asian Development Bank
Comprehensive Development Framework
Development Cooperation
Development Management
Development Planning
Development Strategies
Development In East Asia
Development Planning
Development Research
Green revolution
Regional Trade Integration
Regional Economic Integration
Regional Cooperation
Interregional Cooperation
Government Policy
Regional Organization
Regional Plans
Rural planning
Aid coordination
Industrial projects
Infrastructure projects
Natural resources policy
Educational development
Development strategy
Development models
Economic development
Economic integration
Regional Development Bank
Preferential tariffs
International negotiation
Protectionist measures
Access to markets
Economic agreements
International trade law
Regional integration
Trade relations
Exports
Economic integration
Distribution
Economic integration
Infrastructure
Interregionalism
Regional economics
Regional planning
Communication in rural development
Communication in community development
Economic development projects
Development banks
Economic forecasting
Environmental auditing
Cumulative effects assessment
Human rights and globalization
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