Brussels, 20/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 20 May, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and the European Commission adopted a communication highlighting proposals in five areas in order to bring relations to a higher level between the EU and Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN - Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) by providing a more coherent framework for sectoral cooperation and by ensuring greater political focus.
With regard to trade, bilateral relations will be brought to a higher level and work will be done for the negotiation of an ambitious region to region free trade agreement, based on the bilateral free trade agreements that are being negotiated or have been concluded between the EU and some of the ASEAN bloc countries individually.
Launched in 2007, the bloc to bloc negotiations were broken off by the Asian side in 2009 due to disagreements about the EU's reluctance for Burma/Myanmar to take part (given the country's human rights situation at that time). Since 2011, Burma/Myanmar has started a process of opening up and of reforms, which has enabled the EU's trade preferences for the country to be restored (bilateral negotiations have been ongoing since 2014 for an agreement on protecting investment). Since the time of the bloc to bloc negotiations being put on ice, the EU has been engaging in free trade negotiations with several countries from the ASEAN area - it concluded a free trade agreement with Singapore at the end of 2012; its talks with Vietnam are nearing their goal; free trade negotiations were started with Malaysia in 2010 (but have been on hold since the general elections there in spring 2013); and talks were also launched with Thailand in June 2013 (but are also currently on hold due to the coup d'état in 2014).
During ministerial consultations in Kuala Lumpur on 26 April, the EU and ASEAN agreed to take steps to relaunch the free trade talks between the two regions. The two parties are due to meet at senior official level by the end of the year in order to work on this.
The communication adopted on Wednesday also proposes stepping up cooperation on connectivity by exchanging best practice and by mobilising the financial means and expertise to support the ASEAN's efforts - including on the single market and through negotiating an agreement on civil aviation.
With regard to the climate, the Commission proposes strengthening collaboration and initiating a specific new EU-ASEAN political dialogue on the environment and sustainable development.
The EU also proposes more than doubling its financial support (from €70 million to €170 million) for the ASEAN bloc's integration.
In addition, the EU proposes implementing a very large packet of new initiatives in the area of non-traditional security (maritime security, disaster and crisis management, cross-border crime, training on preventive diplomacy, mediation, the rule of law and election observation).
The Commission states in a press release that an EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting in July 2014 raised the desire to take bilateral relations to the level of a strategic partnership. The start of the negotiations dates back to 1972, but they have taken on a greater dimension since 2012 with many more high level visits to the region. The leaders of both blocs met informally for the first time since 2007 on the sidelines of the ASEM summit in October 2014. An EU ambassador to the ASEAN will take up duty in Jakarta in September 2015.
The EU is the ASEAN's second largest trading partner, with a trade volume of €238 billion in 2014. Bilateral trade increased by an average of 7% annually between 1993 and 2013. The EU is also the first source of foreign direct investment in the ASEAN bloc, with 22% of FDI entering the area in 2013. (Emmanuel Hagry)