Europe should consider the return of great power politics in Asean a timely opportunity to redefine its own role in the region

The largest part of the financial crisis of 2008-2009 washed up on Western shores. Some Asian observers such as Kishore Mahbubani, who have long predicted the West's downturn, now call it the European financial crisis. What is certain is that the euro-rollercoaster and uncertainty will not stop with a new coalition government in Greece. European debt levels in some countries will continue to call for attention.

Yet a crisis is there to lead to new opportunities. That is the lesson Europe can take away from Asia's successful recovery from the Asian financial crisis of 1998. It perhaps creates a more equal footing between the regions that mutual learning is a two-way street. Both sides have experiences to offer. Europe post-eurocrisis could draw lessons from Asean's and Asia's more multi-layered and flexible formats for regional integration that one size doesn't fit all. 

The current economic worries of the Asean countries go further than just observing the fall-out of the eurocrisis. There is a broader worry that the debt crisis in the West, particularly in the United States, could spill over into frictions with Asia's growing economic power, China. That is captured in sentiments from the recent World Economic forum in Jakarta, with Asian leaders fearing the US and China are entering an 'economic cold war'.

Another big worry is the return of great power politics, to which the ongoing clashes in the South China Sea, between particularly Vietnam and China, are testimony. In both areas, the European Union and Asean could cooperate more.

On the South China Sea, the EU has so far been completely absent; paralysed through-out 2010 by the eurocrisis and by navel-gazing on the new institutions and personalities ushered in by the Treaty of Lisbon. Yet the EU could be an honest mediator if desired by regional actors such as Asean. The EU has the same large economic interests in free sea-lanes and undisturbed trade because China and Asia make up its largest bulk of trade. In addition, the EU is a signatory to the international law of the sea, which should be the guide to conflict resolution. The EU has also generally remained committed to strengthening good governance of the oceans globally. Finally, the EU's lack of hard power, in the form of military and naval presence in Asia, is actually an asset. It is a party purely interested in the free flow of commerce and the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law.

On trade, the EU is, beneath the headlines, continuing a push with Asean countries for maintaining free-trade. Negotiations with several Asian states continue on an individual basis. These will be the building blocks for a free trade relationship between the two regions. In that sense, the EU is showing that it still realises the old saying that the business of Asia is business.

The two regions keep up the steam on free trade – a signal to the US, where free trade agreements are stalled endlessly, and to China. The latter, in moments of optimism, believes its next phase of economic development could be undertaken without opening up to the outside world, fuelled purely by home-grown innovation. Here, the EU and Asean can secure their interests while transmitting a united signal on global trade.

Read More: Europe in South East Asia