EU Proposes To Scale Up Partnership With ASEAN

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, May 20 (Bernama) -- The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission (EC) have adopted a joint communication which puts forward concrete ideas for taking EU-ASEAN relations to the next level. It would provide more coherent framework for sectoral cooperation and ensure a sharper political focus, the EC said in a statement. "The partnership between the EU and ASEAN is crucial and we are determined to build on it and strengthen our political and economic cooperation. "From trade to security, from climate change to the rule of law, we have a deep cooperation that will support Asean integration. "Deepening and broadening our relations with Asean is key for the EU’s Asia strategy," said High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini. Concrete proposals and commitments contained in the joint communication includes taking trade relations with Asean to a different level and working towards an ambitious region-to-region Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Apart from stepping up cooperation on connectivity by exchanging lessons learnt and strengthening collaboration on climate change, it would also include more than doubling EU financial support for Asean integration. Last year's EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Brussels welcomed the stepping up of EU-Asean relations and expressed the wish to upgrade them to a strategic partnership. The start of the relations between EU and Asean dates back to 1972, but it was on ly in the last three years that a step change has taken place with, inter alia, a very large number of high-level visits to the region. In October 2014, the EU and Asean met for an informal Leaders' Meeting for the first time since 2007 and a dedicated EU Ambassador to Asean will take up duties in Jakarta in September. The EU is Asean's second largest trading partner. Goods and services, worth 238 million euros, were traded between the two regions in 2013. --BERNAMA