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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

EC provides 7.2 mln Euros to support Asean integration process
8-Jun-2007
The European Commission (EC) has officially launched a 7.2 million euros (RM33.2 million) programme to support the Asean integration process.
Gloria pushes free trade between Asean, Europe
7-Jun-2007
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has expressed confidence that the long-awaited Free Trade Agreement between the economic power bloc of the European Union and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations can be concluded in November.
Philippines Pushing For EU-ASEAN Free Trade
6-Jun-2007
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed confidence that the long-awaited Free Trade Agreement between the economic power bloc of the European Union and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations can be concluded during the Asean Summit in November.
Asean, EU may take years to ink FTA
16-May-2007 Financial Express
A deal may come only nearer to 2015, the year Asean is targeting for the creation of a single market for its 10 members, Asean secretary general Ong Keng Yong said.
Burmese junta prepares for FTA talks with EU
11-May-2007
Asean and the European Union have agreed to allow Burma to participate in free trade agreement talks with the EU, amid signs the military junta is preparing to highlight what it claims are recent democratic advancements.
Officials urged to be critical over FTA
9-May-2007 Jakarta Post
Fearing that the gains promised by an ASEAN-EU free trade agreement (FTA) will turn out to be little more than illusions, a discussion has urged the members of ASEAN to stick together and remain "critical" during the upcoming negotiations.
EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreements: A seminar reader
5-May-2007 TNI
The EU proposes free trade agreements with ASEAN, India and Korea, part of a new generation of agreements with ambitious services and investment targets. Marc Maes and Roelien Knotterus set out the context in relation to other FTAs, while Charles Santiago puts these new EU-Asia relations in a historical perspective.
EU puts Myanmar aside, proceeds FTA talks with Asean
4-May-2007
The European Union today agreed to enter into free trade area talks with the Association of South-East Asian Nations despite its strong feeling on the absence of Myanmar’s democratic reforms.
National-level campaign tackles the proposed EU-ASEAN FTA
4-May-2007 IPD
A broad coalition composed of social movement groups and actors convened to gear up a country-level campaign that will expose and critique the neo-liberal framework that guides the entire free trade agreement (FTA) discourse, now being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the 10-member ASEAN.
EU plans to start FTA talks in Asia
2-May-2007
The European Commission has adopted negotiating mandates for new free trade agreements with trade partners in the 10-nation Asean bloc plus India and South Korea, according to a news release from Brussels.