A case of failed interregionalism? Analyzing the EU-ASEAN free trade agreement negotiations

Meissner, Katharina L.

doi:10.1007/s10308-016-0450-5

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In addition to this shift, we observe a decoupling of the EU's trade policy from its wider external political objectives in EU-Singapore relations, notably support for regional integration in East Asia. First, the shift from an inter-regional approach to bilateral negotiations, starting with Singapore, marked a major sacrifice of the EU's established principle of inter-regionalism in favor of a commercially ambitious bilateral trade deal (Meissner 2016a). Second, the EU made major concessions on human rights in the EUSFTA through the use of a side letter attached to the agreement.…”

Section: Conditionality and Eu Trade Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Firstly, we contend that parallel and (partly) overlapping trade initiatives accelerate the EU's commercial orientation in external relations towards third actors in Asia. Especially in the context of Asia, the EU faces intensified competition with great powers like China or the United States (US) for economic and security influence in the region; Chinese and US American trade initiatives in Southeast Asia therefore reinforce the EU's need for favorable agreements (Meissner 2016a;Postnikov and Adriaensen 2019). This resonates with recent scholarship arguing that the EU's focus on values-based interests in FTAs diminished due to Europe having less bargaining power on the international stage (Conceição-Heldt 2014; Conceição-Heldt and Meunier 2014; Orbie and Khorana 2015).…”

Section: Conditionality and Eu Trade Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it soon became clear that the EU's ambitious vision for a trade agreement would clash with divergent interests among ASEAN member states. Hence, it was in the negotiations with ASEAN that DG Trade realized it was not going to be able to reach a comprehensive and ambitious agreement with the entire ASEAN group (Meissner 2016a;. Only two years after the EU had started FTA talks with ASEAN, the Commission was openly considering alternatives to an inter-regional agreement.…”

Section: Eu-singapore Negotiations In An International Context Of Parmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the Southeast Asian side, we can observe a growing divergence among ASEAN's member states over foreign trade throughout the initial inter-regional preparatory talks to the eventual bilateral negotiations on a EUSFTA. While some states decreased their number of commercial exchanges with the EU, others even increased their economic ties (Meissner 2016a). In consequence, some ASEAN member states were more interested than others in an FTA and Singapore belonged to the former camp.…”

Section: Eu-singapore Negotiations In An International Context Of Parmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Overlapping Negotiations, Conflicting Interests? EU-Singapore Negotiations

McKenzie

Meissner

2020

SSRN Journal

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In 2013, the European Union (EU) concluded its first comprehensive trade agreement with a Southeast Asian partner. The EU-Singapore agreement (EUSFTA) was meant as a blueprint for further negotiations in the region and indeed it was paralleled by trade talks between the EU and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Given the significant challenges and roadblocks the EU faced in concluding both interregional and bilateral trade deals in Asia prior to the EUSFTA, the conclusion of this agreement can be understood as a significant success. However, this success has come at the cost of a shift in EU external relations away from the promotion of its own foundation norms of human rights, rule of law and democracy. This shift has had a deleterious effect on the EU's legitimacy, founded on upholding these norms, both internally and in the Asian region. As a blueprint agreement, the EUSFTA can be analyzed to understand how this shift in the EU's external relations will shape the EU's wider trade policy in East Asia as well as the future of EU-Asia trade relations. This working paper will explore these negotiations and argue that the EU unbundled trade policy from its rights-based foreign policy in the EUSFTA. We argue that this creates significant opportunity for Singapore and other Asian states, but also presents a critical risk to the EU's foundation norms, which were compromised in the EU's negotiation of the EUSFTA.

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Section: Conditionality and Eu Trade Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conditionality and Eu Trade Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Eu-singapore Negotiations In An International Context Of Parmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Eu-singapore Negotiations In An International Context Of Parmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Overlapping Negotiations, Conflicting Interests? EU-Singapore Negotiations

McKenzie

Meissner

2020

SSRN Journal

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“…Die Idee, dass eine starke Interdependenz mit der EU dabei zu desintegrativen Effekten führen kann, wird von beiden Autoren in weiterführenden Publikationen ausgearbeitet (Krapohl 2017;Krapohl und Fink 2013;Muntschick 2018). Meißner zeigt darüber hinaus divergente Strategien der EU in Verhandlungen zu Freihandelsabkommen mit ASEAN, Mercosur sowie dem Gulf Cooperation Council auf, bei denen die EU ihre interregionale Strategie durch strategische Partnerschaften mit Einzelstaaten ersetzte, mit potentiell desintegrativen Effekten (Meissner 2018(Meissner , 2017(Meissner , 2016.…”

Section: K a Marktzentrierte Analysenunclassified