Indo-Pacific Strategy Germany

Germany's Indo-Pacific guidelines, titled "Policy Guidelines for the Indo-Pacific" (German: Leitlinien zum Indo-Pazifik), were adopted by the Federal Government in September 2020, making Germany the second EU member state after France to publish a dedicated Indo-Pacific strategy. The document signalled a shift away from a primarily China-centric Asia policy toward broader engagement across a region the guidelines describe as central to shaping the 21st-century rules-based order.

The guidelines set out several priorities:

• Diversification of partnerships beyond China, with emphasis on Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, ASEAN states, and New Zealand.
• Strengthening multilateralism and the rules-based order, including freedom of navigation, open sea lanes, and adherence to UNCLOS.
• Climate protection and environmental cooperation, including support for energy transition partnerships.
• Open markets and free trade, including support for an EU-ASEAN partnership and modernised trade agreements.
• Digital transformation and connectivity, framed partly as an alternative to coercive infrastructure financing.
• Cultural, educational, and scientific exchange.
• Security and defence engagement, including naval presence.

Implementation milestones have included the August 2021 deployment of the frigate Bayern on a seven-month Indo-Pacific cruise (its first such mission in nearly two decades), Luftwaffe deployments to Australia and Japan in 2022, and ratification of acquisition and cross-servicing arrangements with regional partners. Germany also pushed for the EU's own Indo-Pacific Strategy, adopted by the Council in April 2021 and elaborated by the Commission and EEAS in September 2021.

Critics argue the guidelines remain cautious on hard-security commitments and ambiguous on Taiwan and South China Sea disputes, reflecting continued economic dependence on China. Supporters note the document represents the most explicit German recognition that European prosperity and security are tied to developments in the Indo-Pacific, and a deliberate move toward what Berlin calls a "shaping power" (Gestaltungsmacht) role in the region.