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ASEAN, EU aim for regional identity amid rising populism
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Stick together: The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini (second right) poses for a photo with Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai (left) and Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (second left) during the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok on Aug. 1, 2019. (AFP/Lillian Suwanrumpha)
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mid rising populism and identity politics around the globe, the formation of a regional identity must strike the right balance between integration and regulations, European and ASEAN experts and officials have recently noted.
In a webinar hosted by the German embassies in Jakarta and Singapore last week, policymakers from ASEAN and the European Union compared notes on how the two groups established a regional identity among their people, despite the differences the two have.
As an intergovernmental organization, ASEAN consists of 10 member states with a total population of more than 647 million people. The EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states with a total population of about 447 million people.
The two regional groups have vastly different levels of integration in many policy fields due to the nature of their organizations, with the EU being much more economically integrated than ASEAN. This subsequently affected the sense of belonging that people have in their respective regional organizations, experts noted.
In Europe, approximately 75 percent of the people identify themselves as Europeans, said Gunnar Wiegand, the Asia Pacific managing director at the European External Action Service (EEAS).
He said the level of integration that would allow citizens to travel without border control, study, trade and invest within the region would subsequently bring more rules and regulations.
“That might lead to a situation where people don’t want to identify with Europe because they think there's too much of Europe,” Wiegand said.
