ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the relationship between European Union (EU) and Taiwan. Although the EU per se came into being only in 1992, its member states and its precursors have interacted with Taiwan since the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) government moved to the island. The 2008 financial crisis spread to the Eurozone, which consists of 19 out of 28 members that adopt the euro as their common currency. EU maintained good economic relations with Taiwan. In its foreign policy, the EU is not so united as to transcend the national boundaries or interests of its member states. EU policy toward cross-strait relations is heavily shaped by the global system. Post-Cold War Europe witnessed new regional security environment, an increasing level of globalization, and end of the bipolar system. In its first global strategy issued in 2003, EU listed five "key threats": terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, state failure and consequent regional instability, and organized crime.
