The third EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum was held in Brussels on Friday 2 February, with the aim of strengthening cooperation in a number of areas such as trade, green transition and security, in line with the implementation of the EU strategy for cooperation in this region adopted in 2021.
“Home to more than half the world’s population and almost 50% of global GDP, the Indo-Pacific region is a hub for trade and innovation. Our prosperity is linked to its stability and growth”, said the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who chaired the forum.
With the aim of promoting dialogue and cooperation, the Forum brought together the foreign affairs ministers of the 27 Member States and over fifty countries from the Indo-Pacific region, which stretches from the east and south coasts of Africa to the island states of the Pacific Ocean.
The three thematic round tables focused on economic resilience and investment, the green transition and the region’s geopolitical and security challenges.
Economic relations
The Indo-Pacific region is indeed an economically strategic region for the EU, which wants to reduce its dependence on China. Almost 40% of EU imports already come from the region.
Mr Borrell highlighted the work carried out to further deepen these trade links: the recent signing of a free trade agreement with New Zealand, an Economic Partnership Agreement with Kenya, and the negotiations opened with India, Indonesia and Thailand for trade agreements.
The two blocs would like to see trade increase, especially in certain strategic sectors such as digital technologies and critical raw materials. To this end, the EU has concluded or is in the process of negotiating, for example, common rules for digital trade with several countries in the region. This is the case with the EU-Japan agreement on cross-border data flows concluded last year.
The EU also wants to sign bilateral partnerships with strategic countries on critical raw materials. These will enable it to diversify and secure its supply, as well as introducing sustainable development standards for extraction. “We have proposed to our partners in the Indo-Pacific [region] to work together on the sustainable extraction and processing of critical raw materials”, said the High Representative in a statement.
Green transition
With regard to their cooperation on climate and energy transition, the participants stressed the importance of meeting their commitments to achieve carbon-neutral economies by 2050.
They also noted the joint initiatives under the Global Gateway strategy (see EUROPE 13280/6) to support developing countries in tackling the challenges of biodiversity loss, pollution, environmental degradation and energy security.
However, several delegations expressed their frustration at the high price they have to pay for the consequences of climate change.
On this point, Mr Borrell assured us that “the key to balancing the global climate is not to ask everyone to make the same effort, but to distribute it according to responsibilities and capacities”.
For Rafaravavitafika Rasata, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, it is essential to cooperate “to achieve the objectives of sustainable development”.
This also requires a “fair transition” for all, as the farmers’ demonstrations in front of the European institutions in Brussels reminded us (see EUROPE 13341/4). These were not lost on forum participants. This was particularly the case for Kumaran Periasamy, an Indian officer on a special mission.
“We have also had demonstrations by farmers. (...) Clearly we have a lesson to learn from each other, and we need to take care of people in general, including farmers”, he confided.
Mr Borrell acknowledged that these events were manifesting themselves within society and across countries, pointing out that policies needed to be “adjusted” to ensure the “just transition” necessary for the acceptance of ambitious climate objectives.
Geopolitical challenges and security
Discussions also covered current geopolitical events, such as the ongoing Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the conflict that has erupted in the Middle East, as well as tensions in the South and East China Seas.
The partners reaffirmed their commitment to working together to strengthen respect for international law and the rules-based international order, promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region and address global challenges.
Asked specifically about security in the Pacific Ocean and China’s expansionist ambitions, Fiji’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sitiveni Rabuka, said he “hoped that conflict does not enter our peaceful ocean”.
The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, who chairs the EU Council, expressed the hope that “the Indo-Pacific region, which is the epicentre of world maritime trade, will remain a free and open space beyond the tensions that develop around maritime borders”.
She spoke of the transnational threats in the area, such as piracy and terrorism, and noted that “in the face of our global interdependence, we are all confronted with the consequences of conflict, withdrawal and hybrid threats (...)”.
The EU has also confirmed its intention to strengthen its commitment by implementing Coordinated Maritime Presences in the north-west Indian Ocean and by planning to increase the number of joint naval exercises and port calls with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Pauline Denys)