The European Union and Island Nations in the Indo-Pacific
Chair(s): Sebastian Steingass (College of Europe in Natolin)
This panel examines opportunities and challenges for the European Union as an actor in the Pacific islands region at the intersection of development and the evolving geopolitical landscape. Contributions focus on the EU’s engagement in the region across different areas as it recognizes the necessity of enhancing its presence and cooperation with island nations. Islands, notably in the Indo-Pacific region, are both pivotal players in regional security architectures, given their strategic locations, but also face unique challenges when it comes to economic development, environmental sustainability, and the effects of climate change. Furthermore, despite shared challenges such as remoteness, resource dependency, and socio-economic inequalities affecting indigenous populations, the Indo-Pacific is also home to islands with a distinct status within France and the EU and, consequently, the EU employs different development strategies for different island nations.
Presentations of the Symposium
The EU and Islands Nations in the Indo-Pacific and Beyond: Developing new forms of cooperation from ‘Maritime Security’ to ‘Naval Diplomacy’
Erwan Lannon
University of Ghent
This contribution addresses the evolving geopolitical landscape and the European Union's strategic engagement, notably in the Indo-Pacific region. As tensions rise due to assertive maritime claims and global power dynamics, the EU recognizes the necessity of enhancing its maritime security and naval diplomacy with island nations. This contribution will explore innovative frameworks for cooperation that extend beyond traditional security paradigms, emphasizing collaborative approaches in maritime governance, capacity building, and sustainable development. The implications of the EU's Maritime Security Strategy, which aims to bolster regional stability through enhanced naval presence and multilateral partnerships and the maritime dimension of the EU’s Indo-pacific cooperation strategy will be at the heart of the analysis. The contribution will focus on the role of islands as pivotal players in regional security architectures, given their strategic locations and unique challenges. By fostering dialogue among EU member states and Islands nations, and regional organizations, this contribution aims to identify best practices for integrating maritime security with economic resilience, environmental sustainability, and human security. Furthermore, the contribution will examine case studies of successful naval diplomacy initiatives and propose actionable recommendations for strengthening ties between the EU and island nations. Ultimately, this paper seeks to contribute to more stable and prosperous island nations, reinforcing the EU’s commitment to upholding a rules-based international order while addressing shared challenges such as the protection of biodiversity, trade security, and geopolitical tensions.
The EU as a Development Actor in the Pacific Islands Region: Challenges and Opportunities
Pascaline Winand
College of Europe in Natolin
This contribution examines the opportunities and challenges for the EU as a development actor in the Pacific Islands region. Variously referred to in different time periods and from different viewpoints as the South Seas, the “Hole in the doughnut”, Australasia, Oceania and the Pacific Islands, the region has been termed by Epeli Hau’ofa as “Our Sea of Islands”. This expression draws attention to the limitations of an approach, rooted in colonial perspectives, which perceives the region as small and remote areas of land, “islands in a far sea” with artificially drawn boundaries confining their peoples to specific spaces. Instead, the conception of a “sea of islands” encompasses a more holistic approach with an emphasis on the links between the region’s “ocean peoples” and the vastness of the sea they inhabit rather than the smallness of the landmasses of some of their islands. The relation between landmass and the vastness of the ocean, and especially the recognition of connections between these islands through the sea, are crucial in addressing their development challenges and existential threats. This paper examines the efforts of Pacific islanders to cooperate at the regional level and the obstacles they face, reflected in part in the competition between Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia in the Pacific Islands Forum. The paper further seeks to understand how and why the EU has sought to engage with the region, including via its Delegations and member states, in addressing developmental challenges such as climate change and environmental sustainability, biodiversity and protection of the oceans.
EU Development Policies in Outermost Regions and Overseas Territories: A Comparative Study of Mayotte and New Caledonia in the Context of Geopolitical Dynamics
Lucas Rodriguez Pirez
College of Europe in Natolin
This contribution examines the European Union’s development policies in overseas insular territories, focusing on Mayotte, a French overseas department and EU Outermost Region in the Mozambique Channel, and New Caledonia, a French overseas sui generis collectivity in the South Pacific associated with the EU. Despite shared challenges such as remoteness, resource dependency, and socio-economic inequalities affecting indigenous populations, these archipelagos have distinct statuses within France and the EU. Consequently, the EU employs different development strategies: New Caledonia benefits from the Global Europe instrument (NDICI) under DG INTPA, while Mayotte is financed through internal instruments like the European Regional Development Fun (ERDF) administered by DG REGIO. The study explores the strategies and programs implemented in each territory, analysing their alignment with EU objectives, their effectiveness in addressing local challenges, and their contributions to sustainable development. Additionally, it investigates the role of geopolitical considerations in shaping EU policies. New Caledonia’s vast nickel reserves, crucial for global industries and EU strategic autonomy, and its military relevance in the Indo-Pacific highlight its geopolitical significance. Similarly, Mayotte’s strategic location in the Mozambique Channel underscores its importance for regional security. By comparing these cases, the study aims to uncover how geopolitical factors influence EU development strategies, revealing the interplay between local needs and broader EU objectives. This analysis contributes to understanding the complexities of EU engagement in overseas territories and the balance between development goals and geopolitical priorities.
The European Union Outside the European Continent: Indo-Pacific Islands and EU Cooperation
Isabel Maria Freitas Valente
University of Coimbra
In its initial phase the European project naturally showed little willingness to open up to the regional dimension or the specificities presented by the islands of the Old Continent, neither those that surround it nor those that are spread across the four corners of the world. In fact, it would only be at a later stage that, having achieved the primary objective underlying its origin, and faced with the aim of deepening and widening the integration process, that Europe would begin to open up to the regional dimension and to the recognition of the added value that the Europe of the regions made available to European ideas. Among the Regions of Europe, one species would come to stand out and assert itself, slowly, admittedly, but surely: the islands. This contribution seeks to study the process of consolidating the island dimension on the European agenda: first at the informal level of inter-regional cooperation, and then, at the formal level of European bodies themselves and their respective policies. In a second part, the contribution seeks to analyze the European cooperation policy for the French islands of the Indo-Pacific.
The EU's Indo-Pacific Strategy and Strategic Narrative Theory: Formulation, Projection, and Reception
Serena Kelly
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
During her visit to the Philippines in July 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commented on the increasingly volatile global geopolitical landscape and the threats posed by authoritarian leaders. Remarking on the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal's ruling on the South China Sea, she offered EU support to the Philippines to enhance maritime security through cooperation and capacity-building efforts. Von der Leyen finished by noting the indivisibility of security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific: “Security in Europe and security in the Indo-Pacific is indivisible. Challenges to the rules-based order in our interconnected world affect all of us.” Several news outlets found the comments intriguing. The Morning Star interpreted the Press Release as conveying, “Europe would not tolerate aggression in the Indo-Pacific”. A Global Times article quoted a source saying that von der Leyen was "forging the EU into a military organization subordinate to the US”. While the Press Release does not go into detail about the type of support the EU would offer the Philippines, the European Union’s 2021 Indo-Pacific Strategy offers insights into the current motivations of the EU’s involvement and goals in the Indo-Pacific as well as its potential capacity to respond to challenges to the rules-based international order.
The EU’s Indo-Pacific Strategy outlined the EU’s economic, political, and environmental goals and interests in the Indo-Pacific region. Yet the varied responses to von der Leyen’s July comments demonstrates a mixed reaction by third countries to further EU engagement. While the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy provides a collective European framework, its implementation is reliant on Member States’ whose own individual strategies may offer additional nuances based on their individual interests and historical ties with the region. 2025 is seen by many as a pivotal year in geopolitics (Chatham House). Utilising MisKimmon et al’s Strategic Narrative Theory’s which proposes that narratives are first formulated, then projected and finally received, this research first considers the formulation and projection of the EU’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, before looking at the impact of the Strategy on countries in the Indo-Pacific.
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