Check against delivery!

You have already heard my interventions I suppose, so I am not going to repeat what I said in the plenaries.  

Just to stress the importance that 70 delegations from Europe and the Indo-Pacific have been gathering here.  

And I want to express my gratitude to the Belgian Presidency [of the Council of the EU] and Her Highness Princess Astrid for her presence. 

The fact that 70 delegations have come to Brussels shows the deep connections that bind Europe with the Indo-Pacific, from many points of view. From the economic [point of view] certainly, but also the geopolitical, security and environmental [points of view]. 

We have been discussing about all these topics. 

Let me also stress why the Indo-Pacific region is so important for the European Union. You know, but it is good because people maybe do not know that every day 2,000 ships transport goods between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. 

This is [approximately] 60% of global maritime trade [by] volume. 

We import from the Indo-Pacific region almost 40% of everything we import. 40% [of EU imports] comes from the Indo-Pacific, and we export there one out of four euros of our exports – 25%.

And it is a very dynamic region. Last year, the Indo-Pacific region contributed with two thirds [67.4%] of the global growth. 

The dynamic of the whole economy is certainly depending on what is happening there. Two thirds of the global growth came from the Indo-Pacific. It shows how interconnected we are. But not only economically but also from the geopolitical and security points of view, we are interlinked. 

The pandemic showed that the shocks come from one region to the other. 

Also, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has been sending shockwaves around the world. And now the Red Sea situation is another epicentre of the crises that affect all of us.

We have to continue working on ensuring a shared prosperity, a green transition and address the security challenges.

I think the European Union has a lot to offer. We are a transparent and reliable partner. We have [achieved] a lot of successes since the Indo-Pacific Strategy was launched in 2021. [I am] happy that I was able to finish this strategy which will be part of the [legacy] of the High Representative in this term.  

We have been building a strong network of Free Trade Agreements - with Japan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, recently with New Zealand - and also an Economic Partnership Agreement with Kenya, because Kenya is also part of the Indo-Pacific region. It is in Africa, but the Indo-Pacific goes to the coast of Africa - Somalia, Kenya, Mozambique. 

These agreements are opportunities for new trade and investment. They diversify and integrate our supply [and] value chains, and we have to continue working on that. 

With these partners, and with India, we are working on cutting edge-technologies: semiconductors, 5G/6G connectivity, regulation of Artificial Intelligence.  

Needless to say, how important is climate change.

The Indo-Pacific is responsible for about 60% of global gas emissions, and adapting and mitigating is the paramount importance.

Some States of the Indo-Pacific said clearly that they have little or no responsibility for climate change and on the contrary, they are among the most severely affected. And that is true: we have here countries that have never participated in the industrial revolution so, they are not responsible at all for the [past] emissions and the climate accidents are having strong devastating effects against them.  

It puts on the table the issue of the ‘just transition’. And we do a lot in order to make this transition ‘just’. 

We want to support some of these members of the Indo-Pacific area to develop a Green Alliance. We built one with Japan and Korea. We contributed with €500 million to support Vietnam’s energy transition. Same thing for renewable energy projects in Bangladesh.  

This is more or less what we have been discussing. [Then], we went to the pressing issue of the security at sea. 

We discussed the mission in the Red Sea [that we are establishing] – ASPIDES – to protect merchant vessels. 

Right after this meeting, I will co-chair the EU-ASEAN Ministerial meeting together with the Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Enrique Manalo, who was with us this morning.  

Let me say something about ASEAN. ASEAN is part of the Indo-Pacific, it is at the epicentre of the region. We want to upgrade our relations.  

In 2020, we upgraded the relations to the level of Strategic Partners. 

In 2022, we held the [EU-ASEAN] Commemorative Summit, and today’s Ministerial meeting marks another milestone.  

Thank you to our partners from the Pacific for being here. Yesterday, we held the “Pacific Day” hosted at the European Parliament.  

We signed recently the ‘Samoa Agreement’ and the EU-Pacific Regional Protocol. So, there is a great political dynamism and today’s meetings and tomorrow’s meeting starting tonight will be a proof of this dynamism for the good of the two regions. 

Q&A 

Q. This year, several countries downgraded their participation. We saw junior ministers or ambassadors instead of ministers, including for example EU heavy weights France and Germany. Do you think that cooperation is getting more difficult, particularly in light of geopolitical challenges and divisions. Are you hopeful for cooperation in the future? Do you think that it is getting more difficult particularly on divisions on Gaza? 

Yes, the participation at the ministerial level – what can I say – changes every day. Look, for example, the ministers [for Foreign Affairs] of Germany and France were not here today. Does it mean something? Does it mean that the European Union is less interested this year than last year because Germany and France are not being represented at the level the ministers? Certainly not. They have other things to do, more pressing and urgent responsibilities. The Minister [for Foreign Affairs of] Singapore [Vivian Balakrishnan] was going to be here and at the last minute, he had to cancel his travel because he [was] ill. You know, the political agenda is so complicated that you can never foresee who will be able to attend or not. I could not expect that France and Germany would not be here today. Am I blaming them? No, I understand. They have to be in the Parliament, they have to be in the Ministries, there have been changes in government. The same thing happens to the Indo-Pacific countries so, do not look for strange explanations. If they are not here, it is because they could not be here. And I have to apologise to them [Indo-Pacific states] for the fact that not all European ministers are here, but I do not see that it represents any kind of different approach or willingness to show any kind of feeling. Life is life, people have agendas and not everybody can be everywhere at the same time. 

Q. When the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum was started two years ago in Paris, security was already listed as a big topic. Two years down the road, do you see more or less security cooperation in the region when Europe is so busily focused with Ukraine and now the Middle East? What more fresh security commitments are you offering your Indo-Pacific partners today?  

No, I do not see less cooperation on security. On the contrary, during these years, we have been forging agreements on security. We have been forging new partnerships with them. We want to be present in these waters. Certainly, we do not have a fleet to deploy but we have a Coordinated Maritime Presence. And with everybody in the region, we have been working on security issues. And I plan - I hope - to be able to go to the region in order to sign agreements on security partnerships with some of these countries. Yes, we, Europeans are very much busy with the wars in our neighbourhood, but we understand well that the South China Sea will be one of the hotspots of the world. In fact, there are three hotspots in the world today: Black Sea, Red Sea and South China Sea. We are focusing on the Black Sea and the Red Sea because it is closer, but we are very much aware of the boiling situation that the South China Sea is and we consider that one of the centres of attention for our security policy. And I hope to be able to travel to the region before the end of my mandate to sign agreements with some of these countries on security.  

Q. You have talked about the issues raised by your partners on climate. Have your partners raised questions about the protests that are happening here in Brussels, in France, in Germany. Do they question the European Union’s ability and willingness to deliver on its climate objectives? 

Well, I suppose they have noticed that the ambiance in Brussels was a little bit troubled due to the important demonstrations that have been taking place. I suppose they noticed physically because everybody has been impacted [in terms of] logistics by these events. And well, to tell the truth, I personally have not discussed about it with them but certainly, they should be aware that in Europe, as everywhere, the policies that we have to implement have to be fine-tuned in order to take care of the consequences for different economic and social actors. That is what we have to do. What I said is that the green transition in general is a matter of justice – inside the societies and between countries. Because it puts important questions about how people have to support [and] are affected by the consequences of climate [change] and by the policies that we have to implement to fight against climate change. And this puts the clear question of justice among generations, among people, among countries. Not everybody has the same responsibility, not everybody is being affected in the same way - different layers of revenues in different societies are being affected in a different manner. That is why we have to fine-tune our policies, because the green transition will be ‘just’ or it will not happen because it will be rejected. And this is a permanent process of recalibrating – but it is not my portfolio. It is not my portfolio, I am sure the [European] Commission, my colleagues, will take care of that. 

Q. In this morning remarks, the Indonesian Foreign Minister [Retno Marsudi] critique of the EU’s positions on Gaza. In the doorsteps, the Sri Lankan Minister [for Foreign Affairs, Ali Sabry] accused the EU of double standards. Can you tell us how these were discussed behind closed doors? What message were you receiving? How do you react to those accusations? 

You know, it is not the first time that I receive this kind of considerations. In fact, every time I have a meeting with our international partners, be it with Latin Americans, be it with Africans, with the [ASEAN] [or] Indo-Pacific [states], this is a permanent issue. The war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza are being perceived in different manners around the world. And certainly, the blame is there. The first thing I have to explain is that the European Union does not have a unified position. We have a minimum common position which is “humanitarian pauses” and humanitarian support, and release of hostages. This is the minimum common position. But they are aware that, when we vote at the United Nations, some Member States vote in favour of the ceasefire – at the first vote, they were 8, at the second vote, they were 17 I think. Others voted against - in the last vote, two voted against - and others abstained. My role is to try to put together different approaches. If there [were to be] double standards, I can say that there are different positions to start with – what is the standard? The one that is represented by some Member States who are strongly pushing for a ceasefire in the United Nations or the others that do not share this view. I represent a common minimum denominator of the European Union and try to push for a position that takes into account the perceptions of the others. Yesterday, I think that at the European Council, I had the opportunity to explain that the perception around the world is in some cases different from ours. They perceive things in a different manner. We have to explain first [that] before the war, we already were big supporters of the Palestinian Authority, and now we do our best in order to alleviate the human suffering of [the people in] Gaza. But I think that the European Union has to continue debating its position. At the next European Council, I am sure there will be a deeper debate about that, and I will transmit, to the heads of states and governments, this perception. And it is good to have this kind of meetings, it is good to understand how the others perceive us. And this is something that makes sense, and that is why we gather, to tell each other what we disagree or on how we perceive each other’s position. It is good to know, and it has to be taken into consideration.

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-251627