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The EU’s Asia: renegotiating boundaries, renegotiating norms

Asia Europe Journal volume 10, pages 91–97 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

The global financial crisis and the shift of economic strength to a rising Asia have ushered in European introspection and allusions to the decline of the European Union (EU). The EU’s ambitions to have a normative impact in the world have been called into question. The seven articles in this guest-edited issue explore processes of change relating to geopolitical definitions, regional actorness, interregionalism, and normative power within the framework of EU–Asia relations. This introduction contextualises the themes taken up in the different articles. It considers important divides in the recent history of Europe–Asia relations and outlines key transformations in the global environment, before critically reflecting on the significance of normative power for Europe.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd speaking at the 48th Munich Security Conference, 4 February 2012.

  2. 2.

    Including Northeast and Southeast Asia but also, for example, Russia, India and Australia.

  3. 3.

    The EU’s overall exports as well as imports fell by over 14 % in 2009 (WTO 2011a).

  4. 4.

    Trade with China is now almost on a par with the EU in terms of import from East Asia. Asian countries were party to half of all preferential trade agreements (PTAs) signed in the last 10 years (WTO 2011b). In 2010, 53 % of all Asian trade was intra-Asian (Khandekar 2011, p. 63).

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Affiliations

  1. The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Helsinki, Finland

    Bart Gaens, Juha Jokela & Mikael Mattlin

Authors
  1. Bart Gaens
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  2. Juha Jokela
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  3. Mikael Mattlin
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Correspondence to Bart Gaens.

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Gaens, B., Jokela, J. & Mattlin, M. The EU’s Asia: renegotiating boundaries, renegotiating norms. Asia Eur J 10, 91–97 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-012-0328-0

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Keywords

  • European Union
  • Global Financial Crisis
  • International Criminal Court
  • Global Governance
  • European Union Member State