EU-ASEAN Cooperation for Sustainable Growth: A Policy Analysis of Economic and Developmental Impact

Marton Gosztonyi

doi:10.21512/jas.v13i2.12529

Authors

Marton Gosztonyi Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Methodology University of ELTE

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21512/jas.v13i2.12529

Keywords:

EU-ASEAN cooperation, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Official Development Assistance (ODA), trade integration, policy coherence

Abstract

This research analysed the transformation of European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN), development cooperation into a multidimensional framework linking trade, aid, and sustainability. It situates the partnership within the global transformation of development governance from poverty reduction toward sustainability-oriented policy regimes. The research highlighted the EU’s dual identity as both a normative power and a strategic actor, exploring how this duality shapes institutional design and developmental outcomes. Using official data on Official Development Assistance (ODA), trade integration, and sectoral initiatives, this research evaluated how mechanisms such as Global Europe (NDICI), Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI), and the ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development operationalize the EU’s guiding principles of complementarity, coordination, and coherence. The findings show that EU assistance has generated measurable, but uneven, gains in trade facilitation, governance capacity, and social-sector resilience. Lower-income ASEAN members have benefited from infrastructure and institutional support, while middle-income countries increasingly engage through policy-based and technical cooperation. However, persistent governance asymmetries, bureaucratic rigidity, and limited local ownership continue to constrain impact. Conceptually, the research interprets EU-ASEAN cooperation as a case of pragmatic inter-regionalism, where normative ambition and economic pragmatism converge through sustainability-based policy diffusion. The partnership ultimately stands as both a laboratory and a litmus test for a new generation of equitable and sustainable inter-regional development governance.

Dimensions

References

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