ABSTRACT
The European Union’s (EU’s) attempt to use Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) as a lobby for the modification of the legislation of Asian participants is a function of ASEM that has escaped most observers’ attention. Not surprisingly, Asian states have never openly admitted that the modification of their laws is an area of common interest in ASEM. The significance of this function for the EU becomes obvious once we understand the specific nature of the market access problem facing European firms in Asia. From the perspective of the EU, whose firms lag behind their Japanese and US counterparts in investing in East Asia, the market access of European goods is linked to foreign direct investment (FDI) presence, and both allegedly face non-tariff barriers in Asia.
