Asia-Pacific won’t be EU: Rudd
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants an Asia-Pacific conglomerate to address regional economic, trade and security issues but does not believe a European Union-style forum will be the best way forward.
At the Asia-Pacific Community Conference in Sydney last week, Rudd proposed that a new forum should be developed to include Asia-Pacific countries including China, Japan, the US, and Australia.
“The Asia-Pacific region is still without a regional institution with wide membership and a wide mandate to deal with the breadth and depth of political security, economic and environmental challenges that we will face in the 21st century,” he said.
Pointing out the number of regional forums such as ASEAN, APEC, the East Asia Summit and the Asian Regional Forum already in place, Rudd indicated they could form the foundation for a new Asia-Pacific structure, rather than the overarching nature of the EU.
“It is clear to me that unlike the EU, we do not need a supra-national decision-making structure,” he said.
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