Europe in focus as Philippines launches new security policy

In August, Ursula von der Leyen vowed to strengthen maritime security cooperation with the Philippines, as she became the first European Commission president to visit the Southeast Asian country.

"We are ready to strengthen the cooperation with the Philippines on maritime security in the region by sharing information, conducting threat assessment and building the capacity of your coast guard," von der Leyen said at a joint news conference with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

But it has been relatively unclear as to what exactly the EU can offer Manila to protect itself against increasingly hostile actions from China — which is engaged in a long-running dispute with the Philippines over territory in the South China Sea.

What role could European nations play?

Recent meetings between Philippine and European defense officials suggest that the EU is eyeing a more supportive and out-of-the-limelight role by providing assistance in the areas that von der Leyen outlined in August: Information sharing and threat assessment.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro discussed new defense deals with the Dutch and Norwegian ambassadors earlier this month.

Days earlier, on September 27, the EU-Philippine Sub-Committee on Maritime Cooperation, created at Manila's request, European officials said, met in Brussels for the first time.

"The EU and the Philippines agreed to continue to work together closely and stand up for the rules-based international order and the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-aggression, as protected by the UN Charter," stated a readout from the European Commission after the dialogue.

Peter Stano, an EU spokesperson, said that the most progress has been made under the Critical Maritime Routes Indo-Pacific (CRIMARIO) project.

"We are committed to more training and exercises, including to strengthen the Philippines' crisis management capacities," said Stano, adding that the Philippines has been a particularly enthusiastic adopter of the EU-funded Indo-Pacific Regional Information Sharing (IORIS) platform, a communications system for information sharing on a range of security concerns, from maritime defense to sustainable fishing.

Maritime maneuvers

Under President Marcos Jr, who took charge in June 2022, Manila has become more assertive against China, with which it has clashed over disputed territory in the South China Sea for decades.

This week, Philippines Defense Secretary Teodoro called China a "squatter" and an "illegal occupant" in the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China Sea that Manila claims as its own. 

Tensions between China and several Southeast Asian states that have disputed claims over the South China Sea territory have worsened this year. On October 13, a Chinese warship made a "dangerous maneuver" against the Philippine Navy vessel near Thitu Island, a Philippine-administered island, according to Manila.

In 2013, the Philippines questioned Beijing's nine-dash line, a framework that China employs to claim possession of almost all of the South China Sea, at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which dismissed China's sweeping demarcation claims three years later. Beijing rejected this decision.

Marcos Jr pivots the Phillipines towards Europe

Relations with the EU have also improved since Marcos Jr was elected president last year, following six years of fraught cooperation during the tenure of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who frequently condemned the EU for allegedly lecturing Manila on human rights and realigned the Philippines closer to China.

The Philippines' new National Security Strategy, launched in August, seeks to broaden defense cooperation with actors such as the EU and European states, and Manila will invest billions of dollars in a military modernization drive, with a focus on acquiring strategic weapons systems, advanced warships and fighter jets.

While short on details, the new strategy notes that the Philippines "aspires to optimize its engagements, cultivate new ties, seek comprehensive and strategic partnerships with other countries, and strengthen partnerships with its allies."

Analysts say the actual details are being fleshed out in talks between Philippines security officials and their European counterparts.

Although Manila sees European states as "one of the many prospective sources for developing the Armed Forces of the Philippines", there are two big problems, said Joshua Bernard Espena, a resident fellow at the International Development and Security Cooperation, a Manila-based think tank.

First off, Manila is suffering from a "lack of imagination" in how to spend the billions of dollars it has allocated for military modernization, Espena explained. While it will buy costly, big-ticket items from some countries, it will be looking for bargains and could demand a recalibration of those security systems. 

European companies might accept Manila's requests that they "dumb down the system requirements of platforms" in order to win contracts from the Phillippines' Ministry of National Defense, Espena said, but this could weaken the reputation of those European armaments in the long run.

Diversification of security partners

Then there's also the case that the same desire from Manila to diversify its security partners means that European states will face more competition to gain the Philippines' attention.

The Philippine government would probably prefer to buy "big-ticket" military systems from South Korea and the United States, while Turkey is a leading exporter of "fire-and-forget" drones, which Manila needs if it engages in swarming tactics to defend itself against the Chinese navy in the South China Sea, Espena said.

Dragos Tudorache, an MEP and a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Committee on Foreign Affairs, admits that the EU has not had much of a political or operational footprint in Southeast Asia. But "in the current geopolitical context, the EU has redesigned its ambition and capabilities, and the Indo-Pacific Strategy is the blueprint for that," he said.

Brussels should focus on three main areas — information sharing, threat assessments and building coast guard capacity — in which it has "developed strong credentials over time, so it has things to offer" the Philipines, Tudorache added.

Edited by: Keith Walker