The EU-ASEAN Ties: A Strategic Partnership? : Assessing the Development of Relations through the Lens of Political and Economic Cooperation

Abstract

The European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are both fundamental international organizations in their respective geographical regions, striving to become key players in shaping the global political landscape, reaching out far beyond their borders.In light of this, one might think it was already timely to raise the two blocs' partnership to the strategic level.Analysing official documents, and drawing upon previous researches in the field and a number of in-depth interviews with stakeholders from both sides of the EU-ASEAN ties, this article has given an outline on the development of relations between the two entities, with a particular focus on the political and economic domains.Highlighting the efforts made to pursue the elevation of ties to a Strategic Partnership, it concluded that ASEAN still primarily regards the EU as a trading partner with limited weight as a political and security actor.Protracted bilateral disputes between the EU and certain ASEAN member states also hindered the upgrade of relations for some time.The article argued that even though much has been done lately to approximate the two organisations' viewpoints, and the long-awaited official announcement of the EU-ASEAN Strategic Partnership that finally happened in December 2020 was beyond doubt an important milestone, there is still work to do to further streamline the ties.