Increasing European Union’S Presence In The Indo-Pacific

Given that active presence in the Indo-Pacific is a precondition for a country or a group of countries to fall into the category of global actors, this paper has two major objectives. First it defines the Indo-Pacific on the basis of official documents published by countries such as the United States, India, Japan and Australia and second it highlights the EU’s sustained efforts from 2016 onwards in setting-up a relevant role in the region. The EU Global Strategy of 2016 was followed by the participation of the President of the European Council at the ASEAN Summits for the first time in 2017, the finalization of negotiations for “new generation” Free Trade Agreements with Singapore, Vietnam and Japan and the adoption in September 2018 of a Strategy to connect Europe and Asia. Interregional cooperation is attractive, especially as leading Indo-Pacific players are looking for partners to counterbalance China’s rise, but also to approach the high number of unknowns in the relationship with the United States under the renewed “America First” strategy.