Brussels, 19/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - While clearing the way for free-trade agreements with countries in the region other than Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, the EU is still looking to deepen its bloc-to-bloc economic relations with ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations).
Agreement with Singapore possible before end of 2012. Following a first new generation trade agreement concluded in 2010 (and in force since 1 July 2011) with South Korea, the EU could, this year, clinch its first bilateral free-trade agreement with a South-East Asian economy, the city-state of Singapore, with which “we have made most progress to date”, according to Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. Perhaps, “given that it is a country for whom trading comes as second nature”, there is a “good chance we can finish negotiations this year, if both sides make a last effort to bridge the final gaps”, he told a seminar organised by Friends of Europe in Brussels, on 19 June. With Malaysia, the EU “will need some more time to get closer to the finishing line”, De Gucht said. Next week he will announce the official launch of talks between the EU and Vietnam, with the first negotiating round likely to take place after the summer break. The “door remains open” to the other economies of the ASEAN zone, said the commissioner: the Commission is “continuing our contacts with a number of other ASEAN member states, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand”. De Gucht hailed the “remarkable progress” made by Burma/Myanmar in the political reforms undertaken by the government there, progress that has been rewarded with the lifting of all EU sanctions apart from the arms embargo. “This is an opportunity for a major boost in our cooperation but is not the end of the process: Europe will be closely following continuing political developments in Myanmar. It is in that light that we will eventually consider any other steps forward with that country”, he stated.
Bloc-to-bloc agreement still envisaged. While these “individual” agreements are important, Europe's ambitions for relations with ASEAN do “go beyond” dealing with each country one by one, the commissioner said. EU-ASEAN bilateral trade was worth €200 billion in 2011; Europe is the main destination for the south-east Asian bloc's exports and the EU - the largest investor in the region with 25% of direct foreign investment in the zone - would like to be able to take advantage of a unified market between its ten member countries (Brunei, Cambodia and Laos are also members). “If the global economy is an interconnected machine, regional economies are even more so. Freeing up the transmission of growth within regions is just as important. Europe's single market is the proof of that”, argued De Gucht, underlining the weakness of intra-regional trade with ASEAN, which represents less than 30% of its members' total trade, compared with 60% in Europe. The commissioner argued for increased integration in the region, through achievement of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. Integration “will free up commercial flows, allowing companies to expand and encouraging investment. The region's 600 million people stand to gain, through job creation and a greater choice of goods at more competitive prices. That is why Europe continues to support those efforts”, he said, noting that bilateral cooperation programmes backed by the EU support the building of expertise in areas vital to the integration of the ASEAN region, such as customs, standards, intellectual property rights and the single aviation market. Europe will not be content simply with cooperation, however. “Our ambition for our future trade relations with the region is not only to have a series of bilateral relationships, as at present. Instead we see our current negotiations as stepping stones on the way to an agreement with the entire region”, said De Gucht. But before embarking on such a challenging project, “there needs to be confidence on both sides that it will succeed. Our aim is to build that confidence by establishing a critical mass of liberalisation at the country level first.” (EH/transl.rt)