Plans for EU-Asean meet dashed over

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Plans for EU-Asean meet dashed over Myanmar status 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Shada Islam 
EU refusing Yangon's 'full observer' demand 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIFFERENCES over Myanmar have once again scuppered plans for a meeting
between European Union and Asean senior officials in Bangkok on Monday. 

EU diplomats and officials involved in preparations for the talks say the
encounter has been cancelled because of demands by the government of Myanmar
for full observer status at the talks. 

The officials say that the EU, after weeks of internal debate, was prepared
to accept a "low-key and passive presence" by Myanmar at the EU-Asean meeting. 

But Yangon reportedly told Thailand, which is coordinating Asean's stance on
the issue, that it wanted to participate fully and actively in the discussions. 

"Myanmar is taking a very hard line on the issue," an EU official commented.
"As a result the situation has hit an impasse." 

This is not the first time that the EU and Asean have clashed over Myanmar.
Last November, the EU refused to send a delegation to Bangkok because of
fierce objections by countries like Denmark and Sweden at Asean's plans to
bring Myanmar into the talks as an observer. 

The EU has always claimed that Myanmar's membership of Asean last July does
not entitle it to automatic participation in EU-Asean discussions or entry
into the EU-Asean cooperation treaty. 

In order to do this, Yangon must sign a special protocol making it a member
of the EU-Asean agreement. 

And since the EU has shunned all political contact with Myanmar's military
rulers, such a move is out of the question for the moment. 

In recent discussions, the EU and Asean seemed to be inching towards a
fragile compromise, under which the EU would allow Yangon to send
representatives to the meeting, but the officials would not be allowed to
sit at the main negotiating table. 

EU diplomats say that many Asean countries, anxious to get the relationship
with Europe back on track, were ready to accept the European position. 

But Myanmar, taking a tougher than expected stance, demanded full observer
status which the EU continues to resist. 

Although trade and economic relations between the two regions remain good,
senior EU and Asean officials need to meet to endorse a new work programme
for intensified cooperation in the field of investments and trade expansion. 

Both sides had agreed at a ministerial meeting held in Singapore last year
to inject a "new dynamic" into their relationship. 

The concern is that unless EU-Asean links are given a new impetus, the
relationship could be overshadowed by the wider Asia Europe Meeting (Asem)
process which includes the Asean countries and also China, Japan and South
Korea. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------