In 2021 the European Union launched its Indo-Pacific strategy, given the region’s increasing geopolitical significance in times of heightened interdependence. The success of the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy rests upon the EU’s ability to substantiate its message through concrete commitments (capability), veracity of intentions (credibility) and regularity of implementation (consistency). While the EU’s capability and credibility in the Indo-Pacific remain strong, its greatest challenge lies in consistency. The EU must focus on reframing the core message of its strategy to ensure that it is widely and clearly understood. There are three ways it can do this. Firstly, the EU must acknowledge the heterogeneity of interests among Indo Pacific nations who may be wary of extra-regional intervention, by focusing on the economic advantages of increased engagement. Secondly, the EU must be able to structure a message that can firmly withstand the many political changes of 2024, a pivotal year for elections around the world. Thirdly, the EU must minimise the inconsistency of its signalling in the Indo-Pacific by engaging in minilateral arrangements focused on human, environmental, and climate security.

Author: 

Charmaine Willoughby, Associate Professor of International Studies at De La Salle University in Manila, the Philippines

Signalling EU Naval Commitment to the Region

The European Union now regards the Indo-Pacific as being at the centre of contemporary geopolitical and security challenges. This has led to an increasing European presence in the region aimed, amongst others, at the protection of trade and the maintenance of international law. With a focus on naval strategy, this paper outlines how the EU’s policies towards the Indo-Pacific are an instance of foreign policy signalling. The EU’s three naval operations as well as the Coordinated Maritime Presence have so far signalled the bloc’s objective to be a global maritime security provider. For this to be effective, the EU must ensure the credibility of its activities. The paper analyses how this can be achieved, including in the Eastern part of the Indo-Pacific. It ends with policy recommendations for more effective signalling.

Author: 

Nicolas Blarel, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University 

Niels van Willigen, Associate professor of international relations in the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University 

From Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) to Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP)

The Indo-Pacific is an increasingly important region for global security, but also an arena for geopolitical contestation. Due to its trade and economic interests, as well as broader concerns about the international order, Europe has high stakes in the Indo-Pacific. While France and Great Britain are traditionally the only European states with a significant maritime presence in Asia, the European Union as a whole has, therefore, increased its maritime engagement in recent years. However, European states continue to face obstacles and constraints in expanding their maritime power. The EU has so far been successful in facilitating, among others, information exchange in the Indo-Pacific through Maritime Domain Awareness and the Coordinated Maritime Presence. Its efforts remain largely focused on the Western part of the region. This paper analyses what Europe hopes to achieve in the Indo-Pacific, which challenges it faces, and what it is currently doing and can do further to contribute to maritime security.

Author: 

Marianne Peron Doise, Associate Research Fellow at IRIS, head of the Indo-Pacific Geopolitical Observatory

Partnership for Maintaining Inclusive and Stable Maritime Region

The Indo-Pacific is the most strategically important region in the 21st century. Southeast Asia is located strategically in the confluence of major sea lines of communication. Therefore, the maritime domain and Southeast Asian states are indispensable in the Indo-Pacific. The ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) serves as a guideline for the cooperation between ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific nations. Many Indo-Pacific nations have voiced their support towards the AOIP, including the European Union. Despite its importance, the Indo-Pacific is facing numerous challenges such as the maintenance of an inclusive, open, stable, and prosperous region with rules-based partnerships. This paper is divided into three parts. First, it assesses the challenges in the maritime areas of Southeast Asian nations. Second, it explains maritime issues of shared interests between European Union and Indo-Pacific states. Third, it discusses security frameworks that are better suited in the regional context.

Author: 

Sumathy Permal, Senior Researcher with the Centre for the Straits of Malacca at the Maritime Institute of Malaysia

Series: Guarding the Maritime Commons

Partners and Avenues for European Engagement in Indo-Pacific Maritime Security

How should Europe strengthen its engagement with the Indo-Pacific? While the continent is highly dependent on trade from the region, it has limited capabilities to protect its interests in the face of growing Sino-American competition. This new HCSS report examines how European states can engage in the Indo-Pacific by deepening cooperation with regional powers.

The Indo-Pacific comprises many actors, which are positioned along key chokepoints and share geopolitical and geoeconomic interests in protecting crucial sea lines of communication with Europe. This report does two things to establish pathways for deeper European engagement with Indo-Pacific states:

• Based on relevance for maritime security and political affinity with European countries, it assesses the suitability of regional states as partners. Besides the usual suspects Australia, Japan and South Korea, it identifies an “inbetweener” group of countries, with whom cooperation can be fruitful but is not guaranteed, and states with whom engagement is unlikely to yield beneficial results.
• It then zooms in on the “inbetweeners” to determine pathways for deepening ties. By comparing bilateral relations between different European and Indo-Pacific states along security, trade and investment, and capacity-building and infrastructure, the authors identify relative strengths and weaknesses of European states. Finally, they also contrast Europe’s involvement with that of China and the United States.

Based on the analysis, the report recommends to strengthen European collaboration with more ambivalent Indo-Pacific states, with a focus on trade and investment and capacity-building in the short- to medium-term.

Authors:

Paul van Hooft, Benedetta Girardi and Alisa Hoenig - The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies: Europe and the Indo-Pacific Hub (EIPH)

Other contributors: 

Giovanni Cisco 

How secure is European maritime trade with the Indo-Pacific? Sea lines of communication between the two regions pass through several chokepoints. This new HCSS report by Benedetta Girardi, Paul van Hooft and Giovanni Cisco traces their role in global supply chains, and offers practical recommendations to enhance maritime security.

The report is published by the HCSS Europe and the Indo-Pacific Hub (EIPH), and part of the series Guarding the Maritime Commons.

Authors:

Benedetta Girardi, Paul van Hooft, Giovanni Cisco. With contributions by Alisa Hoenig.

A Dutch case study to bolster European action

The European Union’s Global Gateway investment agenda is gaining traction and political support across the EU bloc, including in the digital domain. This shift in attitude has to be supported by concrete action from member states in identifying their own strengths, as well as local needs in countries of the Global South, as the Netherlands is seeking to do. A key challenge for European players in strengthening their offers to countries of the so-called ‘Global South’ is to know and to act on local needs, engaging with partner countries that also wish to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the digital and data-driven economy. This Policy Brief presents the findings of such a matchmaking exercise, specifically between Dutch digital strengths and local needs in the digital domain in Kenya, Egypt and Vietnam. Hard infrastructure, which is the focus of the EU Global Gateway so far – forms the base of any digital transformation. Building on this, EU member states can offer opportunities in sought-after (sectoral) applications – such as in education, health, agriculture, FinTech or manufacturing – that lay the foundation of an open, inclusive and secure digital domain. Complementing the matchmaking exercise, new (financial) instruments are needed to deliver on the scale of digital needs and interests of partner countries.

Authors

Alexandre Ferreira Gomes, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

Maaike Okano-Heijmans, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

Towards better understanding of local needs

The digital needs and interests of emerging economies in the Global South remain largely obscure to the EU and most EU member states that wish to strengthen engagement in this important domain by way of the Digital Global Gateway. Strengthened engagement with emerging economies will serve partner countries’ development, and at the same time contribute to European companies’ competitiveness and the spread of liberal digital norms such as openness, transparency and privacy. Exploring the digital needs of three partner countries – namely Kenya, Vietnam and Egypt – this Policy Brief highlights areas for cooperation. A key basic need is hard infrastructure, to which the EU Global Gateway investments are now starting to respond. In order to reap the full benefits of such infrastructure, partner countries are also keen to cooperate on cybersecurity solutions, improving digital skills and digitising micro, small and medium enterprises. Equally important are sectoral solutions – such as in agriculture, digital finance, public transportation, e-government, education and health – that help emerging economies to develop in a secure, inclusive enabling digital environment.

Authors

Alexandre Ferreira Gomes, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

Maaike Okano-Heijmans, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

An initial inquiry

This Policy Brief explores the status of Global Gateway’s digital projects and initiatives, and identifies four digital strengths through which the Netherlands can contribute to this EU initiative. The Netherlands boasts remarkable economic strength and a strong track record in developing innovative solutions in AgriTech, FinTech, Cybersecurity and Data Centres. Enhanced engagement with emerging economies in these four fields will serve not only partner countries’ development, but will also contribute to the competitiveness of European companies and the spread of liberal norms such as openness, transparency and privacy in the digital domain. As such, Dutch contributions to the digital Global Gateway will contribute to concrete and useful solutions for partner countries that harness digitalisation for sustainable and secure economic development. Second, they will unlock new markets for Dutch companies operating in these sectors. Finally, they will strengthen the EU’s value proposition to third countries, complementing the current Global Gateway focus on hard infrastructure.

The authors

Alexandre Ferreira Gomes, Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

Maaike Okano-Heijmans, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute

Paper series - Europe in the Indo-Pacific Hub

Why should Europe guard the Indo-Pacific maritime commons: Order, Access, or US hegemony?

E uropeans face difficult choices in the Indo-Pacific as the Sino-American competition intensifies and the multilateral order that protects the freedom of the seas is under threat. In this brief we argue that Europeans need to more clearly formulate their objectives and develop policies based on a realistic view of their capabilities before embarking on a long-term commitment.

The authors

Paul van Hooft & Tim Sweijs - The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS)