The EU’s Connectivity Strategy 2.0: Global Gateway in the Indo-Pacific

The EU’s Global Gateway—launched in 2021—goes back to the Connectivity strategy launched in 2018, and addresses the challenge of a rising China, especially its bid to increase its influence through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Global Gateway provides target states with a safer bet than the BRI and meets the infrastructure needs in the Indo-Pacific region. Based on three core principles—sustainable, comprehensive, and rules-based—the EU is able to combine economic growth with strengthened liberal values, thus maintaining and improving its global economic competitiveness and strategic advantages especially in the Indo-Pacific. The regulatory aspects of the Global Gateway are also important, as these regulations, especially in the digital domain, will have democratic values integrated within them which directly challenge the digital authoritarianism of China. Whether the EU can be successful in implementing this agenda will depend on its ability to work with the United States, Japan, and like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific.