The European Union and Central Asia: Economic development and trade.

This paper analyses EU-Central Asia trade and EU economic assistance to Central Asia. Despite being Central Asia's largest trade partner, the EU's economic impact in Central Asia has been small. Some individual EU companies have had a high profile in individual countries or in energy projects, but overall EU companies have lagged the higher profile of Russian companies and the increasing Chinese economic presence. The EU became more active in designing a strategy towards Central Asia after 2007, but funding remained limited and the impact small. In the 2010s the European External Action Service negotiated an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Kazakhstan, suggesting that for the EU Kazakhstan has a special status within Central Asia and a one-size-fits-all strategy was inappropriate. The paper analyses the emergence of Eurasian rail services and their significance for EU-Central Asian economic relations. The paper concludes with a discussion of prospects for EU-Central Asian relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]