The international political influence of the EU is second only to that of the US. With the 10 Central and Eastern European states that joined the EU on May 1, the organization now includes 25 member nations and represents 450 million people. This has greatly increased the EU's international influence. The EU is Taiwan's third largest trading partner, and the trade relationship was further strengthened with the establishment of the European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan on March 10 last year.
In response to the political and economic benefits resulting from the EU's eastward expansion, Taiwan should make good use of the existing trade cooperation mechanism to further develop our relationship with the EU in general and the new member states in particular.
The government has already formulated a policy to deepen and widen the bilateral Taiwan-EU relationship. Given the current international political environment, Taiwan has to direct further efforts towards creating a breakthrough in unofficial exchanges with the EU and to establish normal diplomatic relations with each member state. There is still a lot of room for Taiwan and the EU to further develop mutual cooperation, in particular in the field of the protection of human rights.
Most EU countries are old democracies that pay great attention to the implementation of universal values such as democracy, freedom and the protection of human rights. This coincides with President Chen Shui-bian's (
The European Commission is a supra-national organization, and the EU's main executive institution. The European Commission has directorates-general on international relations, economic and financial affairs, agriculture, fisheries, energy and transport, employment and social affairs, research, education and culture, and justice and home affairs. These institutions have all achieved quite important political results. Taiwan could invite officials from these specialized areas to exchange development experiences, strengthen knowledge about Taiwan among specialized EU officials and advance mechanisms and opportunities for mutual functional cooperation.
Taiwan stresses social mechanisms for the protection of human rights, a liberal democratic system and a diversified, free economic system. These ideals coincide with the basic values of the EU's member states. Taiwan and the EU can continue to expand channels for cooperation based on pragmatism and mutual benefits in areas such as trade exchanges, research and development, protection of human rights, environmental protection and even culture and education, in order to increase the wealth for the peoples on both sides and to promote a prosperous and developing bilateral relationship.
Chen Lung-chu is the chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation. Translated by Perry Svensson
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