The EU &
the Assoc. of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
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Overview |
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ASEAN, a key partner for Europe The Association
of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), encompasses 10
South East Asian countries. Its key position in the
Asia-Pacific region, its dedication to peace and stability in the region and
its important economic weight have made ASEAN an essential partner for
the European Union in Asia. ASEAN was established on August 8, 1967 in
Bangkok, Thailand with the signature of the Bangkok declaration by the five
original member nations (Indonesia,
Malaysia,
Philippines,
Singapore,
and Thailand).
In 1984, Brunei
Darussalam was admitted as the sixth member. In 1995, Vietnam
also joined ASEAN. Lao
People's Democratic Republic and Burma/Myanmar
became members in 1997. Cambodia
joined in 1999. The Member Countries who make up ASEAN have a combined GDP of
€ 4,117 (2001), but large economic disparities among them. With a population
of some 503 million people, they make up one of the largest regional markets
in the world. The EU-ASEAN partnership The
EU has been a longstanding Dialogue Partner of ASEAN. The political dialogue
entails regular Ministerial meetings, participation in the Post Ministerial
Conferences which take place immediately after ASEAN’s annual ministerial
meetings and in the ASEAN Regional Forum. In September 2001 the European
Commission’s presented its Communication "Europe and Asia: A Strategic
Framework for Enhanced Partnerships", which identified ASEAN as a key
economic and political partner of EC and emphasised
its importance as a locomotive for overall relations between Europe and Asia. Co-operation
between the EU and ASEAN is based on a Co-operation Agreement (1980) between
the EC and member countries of ASEAN: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. Protocols
for the accession of Laos and Cambodia to the Agreement were signed in July
2000 and are in the process of ratification, but the EU has indicated that
cannot agree to negotiate an extension of this agreement to Burma/Myanmar as
long as the situation as regards democracy and human rights in that country
does not make significant progress. Burma/Myanmar, therefore cannot
participate in EC-ASEAN co-operation actions. Political Dialogue ASEAN
makes an important contribution to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific
Region in particular through the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which was
created in 1994 - the only security forum in Asia. The EU is a full member of
the ARF and is represented in its meetings by the EU Troika. The EU and ASEAN
share an over-riding common goal, a commitment to regional peace and
stability. The
foreign ministers of both the EU and ASEAN have met in the framework of the
political dialogue since 1978 every second year and since 1995 it has been
agreed that EU-ASEAN senior officials would meet between ministerial
meetings. The accession of Burma/Myanmar to ASEAN in 1997 put the political
dialogue process on hold until the April 2000 EU General Affairs Council
approved concurrently a toughening of the EU Common Position on Burma/Myanmar
and an arrangement for the Burmese Foreign Minister to participate in
EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meetings. (The political dialogue meetings are in
‘block-to block’ formation, including representatives of all EU and ASEAN
countries). The
13th EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting took place in Vientiane, Laos, on 11/12
December 2000. The Vientiane Declaration, issued after the meeting, reported
that the meeting had reached meaningful conclusions on enhancing EU-ASEAN
political and economic co-operation and that discussions
had also covered a number of sensitive issues, including Burma/Myanmar and
Indonesia, during a wide-ranging review of international affairs. The
dialogue thus demonstrated its increasing maturity, based on the growing
recognition that this is a dialogue between equals. The next, 14th
Ministerial Meeting will be held in Brussels on 27/28 January 2003. Trade relations In
2001, the EU was ASEAN’s second largest export market and the third largest
trading partner after the United States and Japan. EU exports to ASEAN were
estimated at € 42.7 billion, while EU imports from ASEAN were valued at €
66.2 billion, demonstrating that the EU maintained its commitment to keeping
its market open to ASEAN after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. As a
region, ASEAN has benefited significantly from the EU's
Generalised System of Preferences. ASEAN countries
such as Thailand and Indonesia have "graduated" a number of sectors
where they have become competitive in the last few years, losing the benefit of
the GSP for important products - in particular, fishery products for
Thailand. Singapore, due to its advanced level of development, is excluded
from the system. European investment was high in the region before the crisis
and although the trend is rising again, it has not yet reached pre-crisis
levels. EC-ASEAN Cooperation The
EC-ASEAN Joint Co-operation Committee (JCC) promotes and keeps under review
the various co-operation activities envisaged in the Co-operation Agreement.
An official-level Committee, it « normally » meets every 18 months.
Sub-committees have been established for Trade and Investment, Economic and
Industrial Co-operation, Science and Technology, Forestry, Environment, and
Narcotics. The functioning of the JCC was blocked for a time following
Burma/Myanmar’s accession to ASEAN, but a meeting was held in May 1999, with
Burma/Myanmar as a "passive presence" only. This meeting approved a
Work Programme to re-launch EC-ASEAN Co-operation, the "New Dynamic"
in EU-ASEAN Relations. Action was envisaged under a number of headings:
Trade, Energy, Environment, Development Co-operation, Regional Integration,
Science and Technology, Education and Training, Promotion of Mutual
Understanding, Business Co-operation, Narcotics. The
September 2001 JCC undertook a thorough review of EC-ASEAN co-operation,
particularly the difficulties encountered in implementing some elements of
the 1999 Work Programme. The JCC reached agreement on a new approach to
co-operation activities; a clear focus on policy dialogue in areas of mutual
interest where the EC can support ASEAN regional integration and other key
priority areas. Future co-operation programmes should derive from the policy
dialogue and should be subjected to a two-way value added test: what is the
added value for ASEAN in co-operating with the EC on a particular issue, what
is the added value for the EC in co-operating with ASEAN as a group, rather
than with individual ASEAN member countries ? The
new approach is to be launched after a joint reflection on the future of
EC-ASEAN co-operation, which was launched during 2002, with a view to
presenting substantive proposals to the next EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. Meanwhile,
implementation of already agreed co-operation projects has been significantly
advanced. Six projects are now underway, with a total EC financing commitment
of around € 63.5 million, supporting EC-ASEAN co-operation in energy,
environment, university networking and intellectual property rights. Another
two programmes to the amount of € 13 million are currently in preparation, on
standards, quality and conformity assessment, and a programme to strengthen
the capacity of the ASEAN Secretariat to develop regional policy initiatives.
Both of these programmes will be launched in 2003. |