Indo-Pacific: At the Heart of the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy by Ambassador Luc Véron

The Indo-Pacific is home to three-fifths of the world’s population and accounts for 60 percent of global GDP. It is the second largest destination for EU exports and home to four out of the EU’s top 10 trading partners. It is home to three of the four largest economies outside the EU (China, India, and Japan). The region is also at the forefront of the digital economy and technological development, and is central to global value chains, international trade, and investment flows.

This Strategy recommits the EU politically to the region with the goal of contributing to its stability, security, prosperity, and sustainable development, based on shared values and principles, including a commitment to respecting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Cooperation and not confrontation

Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region is essential to implementing the global agenda.

Over the years, the EU has thoroughly made important contributions to the region in areas such as: development cooperation and humanitarian assistance; tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, partnership and free trade agreements, disaster risk reduction, upholding international law, human rights and freedom of navigation.

The EU’s approach to cooperation with the Indo-Pacific is not only about trade and investment. Neither is it only a security strategy. The EU is pursuing its engagement with the Indo-Pacific in a comprehensive manner, with focus on the following seven areas of cooperation: sustainable and inclusive prosperity; green transition; ocean governance; digital governance and partnerships; connectivity; security and defense; human security.

The stability of the region is important not just to the EU but to the world. Sixty percent of maritime trade passes through its oceans, including a third through the South China Sea. Its passages need to remain free and open. However, the waters of the South China Sea are disputed, and we witness continuing tensions.

The EU will work with its partners in the Indo-Pacific to respond to the dynamics that are affecting regional stability. On the South China Sea, the EU supports the maintenance of a rules-based maritime order in accordance with international law, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), including its dispute settlement mechanisms. All parties should avoid unilateral actions that can endanger peace, security and stability in the region and the rules-based international order.

Furthermore, the EU has reiterated its call to an effective, substantive and legally binding code of conduct in the South China Sea between ASEAN and its neighbors, which should not prejudice the interests of third parties.

Working with ASEAN

The EU is a strategic partner of ASEAN. Its voice in upholding international law and norms in the region is crucial in maintaining peace and stability.

The EU is the ASEAN’s number one development partner and its third trade partner and investor. EU exports to ASEAN countries grew from €54 billion in 2010 to €85 billion in 2019 and imports increased from €72 billion to €125 billion.

The Philippines has a very important role in EU-ASEAN relations, as it is the country coordinator for the EU for three years starting August 2021. During last year’s EU-ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting, the Philippines enumerated its priorities in promoting cooperation between the two regions: gender justice, climate action, environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, maritime cooperation, sustainable development goals, migration, digital solutions, and cybersecurity.

A recent milestone in the relationship was the conclusion of the negotiations on the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement. This marks the world’s first bloc-to-bloc air transport agreement, which will bolster connectivity and economic development among the 37 member states of ASEAN and the EU.

The EU and ASEAN also discussed ways to strengthen ASEAN-EU cooperation in ASEAN-led mechanisms and to advocate for regional and international issues. In particular, the EU has expressed strong interest in becoming a full participant at the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM), the latter being the highest defense consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. Towards this end, the EU counts on the support of the Philippines as a dialogue coordinator.

The EU-ASEAN relationship is broad and deep and goes back 45 years. The two sides will mark this anniversary with a leaders’ summit in Brussels in December 2022.

Strengthening maritime cooperation

Safe and secure seas and oceans are critical to trade and economy. This is obviously also the case for the Philippines. The maritime domain is increasingly contested between global and regional powers, thus directly affecting sea lines of communication. Piracy, Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings and other illegal activities at sea affect lives and livelihoods in many places of the world.

The EU is promoting maritime security and the rule of law at sea through naval operations, international cooperation and dialogue, as well as capacity building. The EU further wants to build upon its experiences in the Gulf of Guinea and the Indian Ocean and develop coordinated Member States’ naval presence in key strategic areas to strengthen the bloc’s contribution to international peace and security.

Maritime Cooperation through the Critical Maritime Routes Indian Ocean (CRIMARIO)

The EU supports capacity building in partner countries around the world to ensure their own maritime security and the security of sea lines of communication. In the Philippines, the EU is vigorously pursuing its maritime cooperation through CRIMARIO (Critical Maritime Routes in the Indo-Pacific) to step up maritime domain awareness through information sharing, capacity building, and training.

CRIMARIO, which was conceived to enhance maritime domain awareness through information sharing, capacity building and training, international cooperation and dialogue in the Western Indian Ocean, has now been extended to cover the Indo-Pacific region, where the EU is emphasizing its contribution to maritime security and to an open and rules-based regional maritime architecture.

Currently, the EU is supporting the Philippine Navy, Coast Guard, MARINA and National Coast Watch Council Centre on their efforts to strengthen maritime domain awareness and improve operational effectiveness through the use of the Indo-Pacific Regional Information Sharing (IORIS) platform. The IORIS Maritime Coordination & Communications secure platform enhances the inter-agency collaboration at national and regional level. The Philippines is the first ASEAN country to benefit from this initiative.

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This article is a part of a series called "Europe’s Foreign Policy and Security Approaches in the Indo-Pacific: A Compilation of Special Articles", initiated by Amador Research Services and FACTS Asia with the financial support of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Philippines.

H.E. Luc Véron is the European Union Ambassador to the Philippines. He previously worked as Head of Division for Human Resources in the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s Foreign Service. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Head of the Central Asia Division and Adviser to the Security Directorate. He spent five years in Washington leading the political section of the EU Delegation to the United States of America and the EU observer role at the Organization of American States. A French national, he holds a Ph.D. in Macro Economics and Economic Model and an MA in International Relations, Economics and Public Law.