Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: what strategies for France and the EU?
On February 22, a ministerial forum for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific will take place in Paris, an opportunity to discuss the major priority subjects of the EU, in particular global issues, security and defence, and finally the connectivity and digital.
PA
Text by: Jelena Tomic Follow
7 mins
As part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, France is organizing this Tuesday, February 22, 2022 in Paris a ministerial forum for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
This diplomatic meeting, the first in this format, will bring together the heads of diplomacy of the 27 EU Member States, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, as well as several Foreign Ministers foreigners in the Indo-Pacific region.
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This summit - in Paris - will be an opportunity to discuss the major priority issues for the EU in the 21st century, with global issues, security and defence, and finally connectivity and digital on the menu.
The
Indo-Pacific
, as defined by France, stretches from the East African coasts to Polynesia.
This vast geographical area integrates two major maritime areas: the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean through which the major maritime routes that connect Asia to Europe pass.
The region is therefore of crucial importance for EU trade, hence the importance of security and stability.
“
The concept or notion of the Indo-Pacific was first launched by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007,
recalls Emmanuel Véron, teacher-researcher at the naval school and specialist in Asia
.
This theory was taken up by the Obama administration and in particular under the leadership of Hillary Clinton in 2009-2010, to gradually become a diplomatic and strategic plan, of the Japanese and then of the Americans, to contain Chinese power and try to weave networks diplomatic relations with the democracies of this region.
»
►
To listen: Indo-Pacific: a concept that is debating
French interests in the Indo-Pacific
Endowed with an immense maritime domain, France undoubtedly has political, diplomatic and strategic weight in this region.
“
The French Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is approximately 11 million km2.
More than 85-90% of these maritime surfaces are in the overseas parts, it is something immense,
underlines Emmanuel Véron
.
The French Indo-Pacific vision gradually matured at the start of President Emmanuel Macron's mandate on two essential paths.
The diplomatic channel with the development of an official line which presents the strategic, diplomatic, economic and environmental issues of this immense area in which France has an important stakeholder.
And the path of the Ministry of the Armed Forces which is developing its own roadmap on the strategic dimension of the French military presence in the area, including joint exercises with India, part of Southeast Asia, Japan , the United States or even Australia.
»
But following
Canberra
's cancellation of the “
deal of the century
”, a mega contract for the purchase of French submarines, France is even more determined to carry out its own cooperation strategy.
This diplomatic setback shed a harsh light on the complexity and the balance of power within the Indo-Pacific.
"
We can clearly see that there are constant movements in this immense space, which France is trying to take advantage of and position itself",
explains Emmanuel Véron
,
citing as an example in Southeast Asia Indonesia, a huge State archipelagic which seeks to gain a foothold and to have a place in the concert of Indo-Pacific nations.
France has signed a contract with this country worth more than 8 billion dollars relating in particular to the purchase of 42
Rafale fighters.
“We are clearly on the logic of the military industry, the naval industry and the sale of armaments. But in diplomatic and military matters, both maneuvers, exercises and exchanges, India is a very important partner in the Indo-Pacific zone. India, the other economic, demographic and historical giant of the region is developing its own roadmap and discussing with everyone, including the French. And this is part of the political line, already initiated under the presidency of François Hollande, with the opening of French naval bases in the Indian Ocean to the Indian Navy. We are therefore faced with a fairly concrete example of military cooperation in the Indo-Pacific framework.
»
►
To read: After the submarine crisis, France is looking for its place in the Indo-Pacific
Objectives other than military
According to Françoise Nicolas, director of the Asia Center at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), the objective of this Indo-Pacific project led by France is not to let this space become an exclusive field of competition between the two giants. which are the United States and China.
“
The objective of France and Europe is precisely to bring a certain stability and to have ways other than those of the two big ones who express themselves in this area.
This involves the desire to affirm the freedom of navigation, this is one of the main objectives, but it is also cooperation on the exploitation of resources and that this exploitation be done in good intelligence and it is also environmental preservation objectives.
»
The director of Ifri specifies that the French and European vision of the Indo-Pacific is not exclusively military.
Security is defined extremely broadly.
It is a question of going beyond the military dimension, via the management of common goods, the defense of the environment, cooperation also to fight against climate change.
All these objectives come together in the grand Indo-Pacific strategy as defined by France and Europe.
An opening of the Indo-Pacific countries for more multilateralism
In this strategic area plagued by tensions exacerbated by the Sino-American rivalry, many countries are in favor of developing a partnership with the member countries of the European Union.
Emmanuel Véron believes that many states aspire to multilateralism.
“
There are a number of states, whether in Southeast Asia, South Asia or island states in Oceania, even Northeast Asia, that want to play the multilateral game to the full.
China weighs with all its economic weight in the zone.
And there is a lot of asymmetry in these power relations.
When we look at China's work of diplomatic influence, economic influence over the past forty years towards the "small" states of Southeast Asia (Laos, Cambodia) or even larger states (Thailand , Indonesia), we can clearly see the degree of interdependence and the difficulties in establishing a roadmap and having a counterweight within the framework of the rules of contemporary international relations.
»
The teacher-researcher from the naval school believes that faced with Beijing's hegemonic ambitions, the
European Union,
which is a unified, consolidated market, among the most important in the world, if not the most important, has a role to player.
“
Many of these states within the Indo-Pacific are waiting for Europe, asking for Europe, needing Europe.
The EU must address these questions in an institutional and operational framework in order to meet these expectations and find a common line to build the decades to come
,” concludes Emmanuel Véron.
Exiting the China-US Binary Choice
Françoise Nicolas from Ifri makes the same observation: “
I think there is a place for other actors.
Because the countries directly involved and at the heart of this vast area, I am thinking in particular of the ASEAN countries, do not want to be prisoners of this binary choice between China and the United States.
They are absolutely delighted that other players are positioning themselves in this space.
The European Union can make a different voice heard and try to invest in this area by playing the economic card, very largely neglected recently by the United States and by going beyond the purely security dimension.
»
Even if cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is one of the major European challenges of the 21st century (digital connectivity, energy issues, climate, biodiversity, security and defence), reflection on strategy has only just begun.
This question still remains for many EU Member States a distant, even unknown subject, which will have to be structured over the course of meetings and exchanges between Europeans and their partners in the Indo-Pacific zone.
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