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  1. Negotiations

EU-ASEAN

The European Union was planning on a bilateral trade agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for many years. On 4 May 2007, the two sides agreed to start negotiations.

The EU-ASEAN FTA is supposed to be a comprehensive agreement. While ASEAN states are hoping to gain additional market access in the EU, the agreement is expected to have a much bigger impact in strengthening business opportunities for European TNCs in the region.

The talks have moved slowly and it’s not clear if the final deal will take the form of separate agreements between the EU and individual ASEAN members, something the EU seems to prefer. This would allow European governments to avoid taking on any commitments that support the regime in Burma but also to deal with the economic heterogeneity among ASEAN members.

EU procedures require that all ASEAN countries sign a Partnership Cooperation Agreement, containing a commitment to human rights, as a prerequisite to an FTA. Indonesia has already concluded its PCA with the EU, Singapore and Thailand are in advanced stages of negotiations, and Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei are soon to begin. The Philippine government stated early on that it expects problems in negotiating a PCA, as the agreement apparently requires that the signatory state join the International Criminal Court.

Click here for the European Commission’s page on the EU-Indonesia FTA

last update: May 2012
photo: People’s Health Movement

Group says Cha-cha to lift ban on 100% foreign ownership of land
19-Jun-2009 Business Mirror
Pamalakaya’s Hicap believes the EU wants the ban on foreign ownership abolished because it would soon enter into a bilateral economic agreement with the Philippine government under the EU-RP Free Trade Agreement, where one of the major provisions is the removal of the ban on foreign ownership of land.
Research on Asean-EU FTA impacts kicked off
4-Jun-2009 The Nation
The Kenan Institute Asia has begun a 16-month research and communication project to assess the possible impacts in Thailand of the proposed ASEAN-European Union free trade agreement and to provide a factual basis for the public, business and government to discuss ways to mitigate any adverse impacts.
EU-Asean FTA not good for RP rice sector, says study
23-May-2009 Philippine Star
The European Union-Association of South East Asian Nations (EU-ASEAN) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may pose difficulties for the Philippine rice sector while favoring that of Thailand.
EC notes lack of Asean commitments for FTA, is open to bilateral deals
18-May-2009 Business Mirror
THE European Commission said it has not been getting commitments from the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations in the negotiations for a free-trade agreement but welcomed member countries of Asean to push for bilateral deals with the regional bloc.
ASEAN-EU FTA talks frozen
7-May-2009 Jakarta Post
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union have agreed to halt ongoing talks on the free trade agreement.
The EU-ASEAN free trade agreement: Region-to-region versus the bilateral approach
5-May-2009 TNI
"ASEAN should build a different kind of regionalism and not sign bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the EU", says Malaysian MP Mr. Charles Santiago in Brussels in a debate with Mr. Bercero, chief negotiator for the EU in the EU-Korea FTA and Mr. Helmut Markov, chair of the Committee on International Trade of the European Parliament.
An ’unacceptable’ free trade agreement
30-Apr-2009 Bangkok Post
The free trade agreement the EU has proposed to Asean deliberately undermines the Doha Declaration on patents and public health.
EU assist to improve exports to Europe
18-Apr-2009 Manila Bulletin
The Philippines will receive 6.5 million Euros to develop a strategic trade policy for both bilateral and multilateral negotiations, speed up customs procedures, cope with demanding EU regulations on technical standards and comply with the latest requirements on food safety.
A partnership among equals? Examining the EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
13-Apr-2009 TNI
The EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign initiated in 2007 a research project that would examine the nature and scope of EU-ASEAN Relations. The first phase of that project was the conduct of country-level studies. We have so far been able to complete studies in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand and we expect reports from Vietnam and Malaysia very soon.
EC pushing for RP-EU bilateral trade deal with impasse in Asean-EU FTA
25-Mar-2009 Business Mirror
THE European Commission is urging the Philippine private sector to persuade the government to pursue a bilateral economic cooperation deal with the European Union now that the negotiation for a region-to-region free-trade agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and EU has reached an impasse.