|
A world player - The European Union's external relations   
Our partners around the world
The European Union has a network of association, cooperation and trade agreements which criss-cross the globe, from its nearest neighbours in Europe to its most distant partners in Asia and the Pacific. To manage these relationships, the EU holds regular summit meetings or ministerial gatherings with its major partners.
The EU's most intensive relations are with four western European neighbours: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. They are all members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) who have aligned themselves with large parts of the EU's internal market legislation and follow the EU in other policy areas. All except Switzerland participate, alongside the EU, in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Preparing for future enlargements
From six members in the 1950s to 25 in 2004 and 27 in 2007, the European Union can now rightly claim to represent a continent. Stretching from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, it reunites Europe 's western and eastern parts for the first time since they were split by the cold war 60 years ago.
Link: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/the-policy/index_en.htm
A friendly neighbourhood
The European Union is determined to ensure that the 2004 enlargement - and any subsequent enlargements - will not create new barriers between the expanded Union and its neighbours. This is why the EU is preparing to forge closer ties with its neighbours to the east (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and eventually Belarus) - and to the south (the Mediterranean countries).
As part of its 'European Neighbourhood Policy' the EU plans to extend to these countries many of the benefits of its internal market, to offer them additional trade concessions and financial assistance. In exchange, the EU's neighbours would make greater commitments to democratic reform and the market economy, and pay greater respect to human rights. As enlargement brings the EU into direct contact with neighbours marked by political and social instability, its response is to share with them its prosperity and stability, thus consolidating its own security.
Since the neighbours are transit points for illegal immigrants and traffickers in drugs and human beings, the EU is helping a number of them to strengthen their border management and immigration procedures.
Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and most countries in the south Caucasus and central Asia have agreements with the EU which cover trade, political cooperation, environmental protection and collaboration in scientific and cultural matters. With its biggest neighbour, Russia, the EU is developing a whole scheme for cooperation in a broad range of areas
These countries also benefit from the EU's TACIS assistance programme which is worth €3.14 billion in the period 2000-2006. It funds projects on institutional reform, infrastructure networks, private sector development, environmental protection and the rural economy.
As part of the 'Barcelona Process', the EU is committed to setting up a free trade area with its Mediterranean neighbours by 2010. This would include the Arab countries around the southern and eastern Mediterranean plus Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Trade is being opened up between the Union and each of its partners, and the latter are taking steps to trade more amongst themselves. For example, in 2004, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia signed the 'Agadir Agreement' - a free trade agreement between them.
In the Middle East proper, the EU has been negotiating a free trade agreement with the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates). The EU is also supporting reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
Transatlantic ties
The transatlantic partnership with the United States is central to the EU's external relations. Trade and investment flow across the Atlantic at a rate of nearly one billion euro a day. Washington has long supported European integration. The EU and US share many common values and common interests, even though there are sometimes differences of emphasis and approach between them.
Given the size of their bilateral trade (the US takes 25% of EU exports and supplies 20% of its imports), it is not surprising that disputes break out between the two from time to time. Although these disputes make the headlines, they represent less than 2% of total transatlantic trade. The way the EU and the US have handled joint issues involving competition law or the recognition of each other's technical standards has served as a model for the Union's relationships with others, including Japan and Canada.
With Canada, the EU launched two ground-breaking initiatives in 2004 to deepen relations. One is to create an EU-Canada partnership agenda for cooperation on global issues. The other is to negotiate a new agreement for enhancing trade and investment between them.
Asia moves closer
Although China and Japan are its biggest trading partners in Asia, the EU's longest-standing relationship is with the seven-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This relationship began in 1972 and was formalised in a cooperation agreement in 1980. ASEAN took the initiative to expand relations with the EU into the process known as ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) in which Japan, China and South Korea also participate. ASEM holds a summit meeting every two years.
In recent years the EU has intensified its relations with Japan. An EU-Japan action plan, adopted in 2001, expands the range of bilateral cooperation beyond trade and investment to include political and cultural affairs. Europe has become the major source of foreign direct investment to Japan and the largest recipient of Japanese foreign investment, surpassing the United States and China.
In line with the increasing importance of both the EU and China as global political actors, their relationship has grown dynamically in recent years, with greater emphasis on political dialogue, sectoral agreements and institutional exchanges. On the commercial front, China is now the EU's second biggest trading partner outside Europe - after the United States and ahead of Japan. The EU is one of the principal sources of foreign investment in China.
The EU is India's biggest trading partner and provider of foreign investment. Since they held their first summit meeting in June 2000, relations between them have blossomed and now embrace not only trade but also political dialogue, business summits, cultural cooperation and joint research projects.
China and India join Galileo
One of the main pillars of European transport policy is stimulating technological innovation. European Space Policy is introducing the notion of satellite navigation with the Galileo and Egnos programmes, with a view to optimising traffic management, whether road, waterborne or aerial.
Link: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/galileo/index_en.htm
India is the fourth country joining the GALILEO programme, after the signature of agreements with China, Israel and Ukraine. Discussions are also under way with Argentina, Brazil, Morocco , Mexico, Norway, Chile, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada and Australia.
Link: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/space/archives/article_3808_en.html
Latin American links
The European Union and Latin America have enjoyed a Strategic Partnership since the first bi-regional Summit in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1999. They are natural allies linked by strong historical, cultural and economic ties. They co-operate closely at international level and maintain an intensive political dialogue at all levels - regional, sub regional ( Central America, Andean Community and Mercosur ) and also more and more at bilateral level.
Link: http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/la/index_en.htm
Partnership with Africa
In addition to its traditional links to African countries via the Mediterranean agreements or the ACP relationship, the EU has begun a new dialogue with the African Union (AU). This includes conflict prevention and resolution and EU support for AU and United Nations peace-keeping efforts on the continent.
The EU-Africa partnership also covers regional economic cooperation and integration and trade, the fight against drought and desertification, action against HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, food security, human rights and democracy and the war on terror.
|
