THINKING STRATEGICALLY ABOUT ASEM - THE SUBSIDIARITY QUESTION

Aficionados of arcane European Union politics will know the importance of the term 'subsidiarity', for it relates to perhaps the most fundam ental question facing any federal enterprise. Subsidiarity is supposed to be simple - the notion that issues should be handled at the most e ffective level of authority - but the devil is in the debate about wha t is 'most effective'. The notion of subsidiarity, in all its complexi ty, is in fact most appropriate for those considering the shape of the agenda for the next Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in London in 1998. Wit h the proliferation of meetings and organizations devoted to the next ASEM agenda, the time has come to pose and begin to answer the subsidi arity question. That question for ASEM would ask, 'what is best done a t the ASEM level', as opposed to at a global, other regional, national , or even corporate, local or individual level? If officials and analy sts feel that such a question is too tough for the ASEM process, perha ps they would be happier with a subsidiary subsidiarity question: 'wha t can also be usefully done at the ASEM level'? If there are good answ ers to the main question, there is a good basis on which to engage in the ASEM process. If there are only good answers to the subsidiary que stion, the ASEM agenda will be less ambitious and perhaps even appear contrived.