Discovering the Icebergs of EU Interregional Actorness in Asia: The EU “Unique” Regional Integration Model in the Eyes of China and India

Abstract

The European Union (EU) seeks to differentiate itself from other international actors, such as its model for regional integration. In the process of defining itself, the EU mainly focuses on self-perception (Lucarelli, GARNET Working Paper: Research Report: The External Image of the European Union, 17, 27, 2007a). Recently, studies of external perception have been viewed as an essential missing element in the EU identity-building process. At the same time, the EU’s interregional actorness in Asia suffered lately from relevant weaknesses, reflected, for example, in the EU’s switch to bilateral negotiations following unsuccessful region-to-region negotiations to establish the Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN, as well as by the apparent fatigue within ASEM. This research tries to shed light on the EU’s efforts as an interregional actor in Asia, while being at the same time a global power in the making by analyzing the way in which two Asian emerging powers, China and India, perceive the EU’s regional integration, utilizing recent surveys conducted among the Chinese and Indian elites and media. The paper hereby establishes an important link between perceptions and their role in foreign policymaking.