The EU Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific will be held on Saturday 13 May in Stockholm, following the informal ‘Gymnich’ meeting of EU foreign ministers (see other news). This is the second such Forum, after the one in February 2022 organised by the French Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 12899/25).
The meeting will be chaired by Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and EU High Representative Josep Borrell.
Some 60 foreign ministers and deputy prime ministers, including 30 regional partners and ministers from outside the European Union, including the United States, will attend.
“We are emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic globally, we are living in a period of geopolitical tension. (...) These also impact on the commercial sector and, of course, we have the common existential challenge of climate change and issues such as natural disasters. The EU Member States and the countries of the Indo-Pacific region are natural and logical partners in addressing these global challenges”, a senior Swedish official said on Wednesday 10 May.
This Forum is an opportunity for the EU to reiterate its commitment to a region with important global issues, “producing 60% of the world’s GDP”, he stressed.
While no declarations or conclusions are expected to be adopted, the main objective of the EU is to develop a strategy of cooperation and to create business partnerships, as well as to diversify its supply chains, especially in the digital sector.
Finally, the discussions will focus on security in the region, following on from the issues raised at the Gymnich meeting the previous day.
While China and Taiwan were not invited to the Forum, a senior EU official confirmed that “there was a good chance that the Taiwan situation would be discussed”. “This is one of the challenges that needs to be carefully managed and ensure that there is no escalation of tensions”, he said. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)