Reporting from Singapore
Back on 29 March, over 2,000 heads of state and other dignitaries converged on the campus of the National University of Singapore to pay their last tribute to Lee Kuan Yew, the founding prime minister of the world's fourth largest financial hub and the most globalised city in Asia. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Australia’s Tony Abbott or former US President Bill Clinton were among the preeminent VIPs, but there was only European: UK's Foreign Secretary William…
Declining trade leverage
The EU’s trade strategy in South-East Asia appears to have reached a dead end. "It’s all stuck," said Razeen Sally, trade expert at the Lee Kuan Yew School and the Brussels-based ECIPE think tank. While the Commission still hopes to clinch a free trade deal with Vietnam, its negotiations with Malaysia, Thailand and India are still stalled, and the validity of its investment treaty with Singapore is awaiting the ECJ’s approval. Here again, the Lisbon Treaty has failed to deliver on its promises. "The capitals have been playing an increasing role along with the European Parliament. These factors have only weakened the Commission’s hand when negotiating free trade agreements," according to Sally. Booming economies such as Indonesia or the Philippines are reluctant to aim for an FTA with the EU - unlike only a few years ago, when access to the European market and a chance to attract EU investors were still considered attractive goals there.
