The EU’s global gateway: the importance of EU-Asia partnerships for a circular and competitive Europe

The EU SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component and the European Environmental Bureau are convening the webinar, 'The EU’s global gateway: the importance of EU-Asia partnerships for a circular and competitive Europe', to:

• Discuss the main EU Circular Economy policies that have an external dimension applicable to the Asia-Pacific region.
• Understand how Europe can build successful partnerships in Asia for a circular transition.
• Discuss the challenges and opportunities for businesses in navigating this transition and how the Global Gateway can offer new horizons to its partners.

The EU Global Gateway stands for sustainable and trusted connections that work for people and the planet. It helps tackle the most pressing global challenges, from fighting climate change to improving health systems, and boosting competitiveness and security of global supply chains.

The implementation of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), a major building block of the European Green Deal, has introduced legislative initiatives to transition to a truly circular economy. CEAP includes a strong international dimension. These measures aim to catalyse new ways of doing business, different patterns of consumption, and better technologies for saving resources and recycling secondary materials, as well as products that are durable, repairable, and supported by citizens who care and consider their choices.

CEAP places emphasis on priority value chains, many of which are important to the Asia-Pacific region, such as food, electronics, textiles, construction, and buildings. These value chains often include Asia-Pacific businesses, making Europe’s Circular Economy Action Plan highly relevant to guiding the EU Global Gateway strategy and its partnership in the Asia-Pacific region, opening up opportunities for collaboration between European and Asia-Pacific businesses.

The regulations also introduce requirements that will apply to most products manufactured and/or consumed in the EU, with significant economic and technical implications for businesses that rely on the EU as a key import/export market. These regulations will impact value chains globally, as all products placed on the EU market will be affected.

The Global Gateway presents an opportunity to build EU-Asia partnerships that will shape value chains globally for a more circular and competitive Europe. The circular economy approach promotes the use of secondary raw materials, minimises environmental impacts associated with extraction, and may increase the need for reliable partnerships that serve as the foundation for active exchanges.