Summary
The report focuses on differentiation in three regional organizations, the EU, Mercosur and ASEAN. The author concludes that these organisations make up three models of differentiated regionalism. (1) an expanding centralized differentiated regionalism, exemplified by the EU which strengthens integration and its external partnerships with a normative agenda. (2) A low institutionalised and constrained regionalism exists in the case of ASEAN which only leads to a medium resilience and the absence of strategic autonomy since it situates ASEAN in a situation of deep dependence on external cooperation with China and on great and middle size powers. (3) A functionally and geographically limited regionalism coexisting with multiple (overlapping) ROs in the case of Mercosur which strives to strengthen resilience but has no clear agenda regarding China save for member states.
The report was first published in July 2023, and updated in October and December 2023.
