Associate Professor Philomena Murray

A/Prof Philomena Murray
Contemporary Europe Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia

Contemporary European Perspectives on East Asia and EU-Asia Relations

Abstract:

While much has been written about the EU’s political and economic relations with East Asia, the ASEM structure and the complexities of inter-regionalism, there has been little written about the EU’s motives in engaging with Asia and its attitudes towards the region as a whole. This paper attempts to discover how Europeans, and the EU, perceive ‘Asia’: What has shaped European perspectives on Asia? What does ‘Asia’ mean to Europeans and how important is ‘Asia’ in the European mindset? How does the EU conceive of Asia? Is it viewed as a region, or as individual nation states? Is the EU actively trying to be a ‘normative power’ in the East Asian region? This paper illustrates how the EU-East Asia relationship has changed over time, since the EU first began to interact with the Asian region.

This paper argues that EU policy towards East Asia has been essentially reactive and motivated by EU economic interests in the early years of its Asia Strategy and that its current engagement is characterised by a combination of bilateral and regional arrangements and, in particular, changing conceptions of what constitutes ‘Asia’. While economic interests remain paramount, political and normative elements are also evident. What is the relationship between the economic imperatives and the normative thrust? Why and how is the EU advancing normative values in Asia? Do economic interests remain paramount? Are we witnessing normative means by the EU to achieve economic ends in Asia - or parallel approaches? Is the EU still essentially reactive in response to the political, economic and other taking place in Asia? Is the EU is trying to encourage or even accelerate further changes? What might be the broader implications of these developments?

Biographical note:

Associate Professor Philomena Murray is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Contemporary Europe Research Centre at the University of Melbourne, where she is also Head of the Research Unit on the European Union. She was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair by the European Union in 2001, the first and only person in Australia to receive this award and a Personal Jean Moonet Chair (ad personam) in 2006. The Contemporary Europe Research Centre was designated a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in 2004. She obtained her Ph.D. at the European University Institute, Florence (1989) and is a former diplomat. She was founder President of the Contemporary European Studies Association of Australia and was Joint Coordinator of European Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests are in European Integration analysis; EU-Australia relations; EU-Asia relations; EU governance and comparative regional integration. She was joint editor of The Australian Journal of Political Science, 1996-98 and is a member of several Editorial and International Advisory Boards of international journals. Her book, Australia and the European Superpower, was published by Melbourne University Press in November 2005. Edited books include L. Holmes and P. Murray, eds., Citizenship and Identity in Europe, Ashgate, Aldershot, 1999; P. Murray and L. Holmes, eds., Europe - Rethinking the Boundaries, Ashgate, Aldershot, 1998; P. Murray and P. Rich, eds., Visions of European Unity, Westview Press, Colorado, 1996; P. Murray and L. Topic, eds., Europe in the 1990s: Australia's Options, Contemporary European Studies Association of Australia, Melbourne, 1994. She was recently awarded a Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

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