Relations between Europe
and ASEAN were founded on strong ties of cooperation that were first formed
in the early 1970s when a number of informal contacts took place. The nature
of this cooperation had now developed quite substantially as a result of
economic and political changes that had taken place in the two regions
concerned. Efforts to adapt EU-ASEAN relations to changing circumstances had
to date been based on the EC-ASEAN cooperation agreement signed in March
1980. The Community was ASEAN’s oldest international partner, the first
informal relations dating back to 1972 following an initiative by ASEAN that
was primarily focused on commercial development. The first contact at
ministerial level took place in June 1972, when a delegation led by the
Indonesian Minister for Trade was received at a special meeting by the
Members of the Commission. In 1974 the Commission first proposed the idea of
a cooperation agreement based on the model that had already been concluded
with India
in 1973. This failed to materialise due to a lack of adequate institutional
structures at ASEAN level. However, at the first ASEAN summit held in Bali in 1976 it was decided that the necessary steps
should be taken to extend the level of contact and formalise a dialogue with
the Community. The first EEC-ASEAN ministerial meeting took place in Brussels in November
1978. This was the first time that the Foreign Ministers of the EEC Member
States, acting at Community level, had ever met their counterparts from a
regional development group that was not associated with the Community. The decision
was then taken to conclude a cooperation agreement and this was duly signed
by the two parties in March 1980. Since then, EC-ASEAN relations had evolved
within the legal framework of this agreement and ministerial meetings were
organised on a regular basis in order to head the meetings of the joint
cooperation committee set up by the agreement. EC-ASEAN meetings had been
held on a regular basis since 1978, with 11 at ministerial level and 12 at
joint committee level. As a partner in dialogue the EC had, since 1980, also
taken part in the post-ministerial conference organised each year (at the end
of July) immediately after the ministerial meeting with ASEAN. With the end
of the Cold War and the impressive economic development under way in the ASEAN
region the time had come to review the framework within which this
relationship operated. For this reason it was decided, at the 9th
EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting in Luxembourg in 1991, to revise the
1980 agreement in order to take account of the new set of requirements that
had to be met as part of the mutual cooperation between the two parties.
However, since July 1992 the Council had been unable to reach agreement on a
negotiation directive for the Community that would form the basis of a new
agreement. This did not prevent a strengthening of political links, including
the regular participation of the EU in the ASEAN Regional Forum, which met
for the first time in July 1994, and the development of a joint dialogue
within the strict limits set by the 1980 agreement and on the basis of the
consensus obtained at the 10th EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting that
had been held in Manila in October 1992. The EU-ASEAN political framework
proved to be sufficiently flexible to allow a number of modifications to be
made to the cooperation prerogatives that had developed since 1980. The
Commission guideline document ‘Towards a new Asian strategy’, which was
published in July 1994, illustrated the changes that had taken place in
relations between the Union and ASEAN and emphasised the need for a
partnership based on an equal footing with ASEAN. Those attending the 11th
EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting in Karlsruhe (Germany) in
October 1994 were strongly in favour of the Commission document and undertook
to strengthen and intensify the level of dialogue and cooperation that was
now well established between the European Union and ASEAN. To this effect a
group of eminent persons was set up with the remit to propose concrete
measures designed to promote EU-ASEAN relations. This group presented its
report in June 1996. Within the framework of EU-ASEAN cooperation the highest
level of institutional dialogue took place at the EU-ASEAN ministerial
meetings, which were attended by the relevant foreign ministers. The 11th
ministerial meeting was held in Karlsruhe
in October 1994. The meetings took place every two years and the agenda
focused on political and economic matters and joint cooperation. In addition
to this, a meeting of senior civil servants was held in order to maintain a
political dialogue in the intervening period between ministerial meetings.
The last meeting of senior civil servants took place in Singapore in
May 1995. As part of the cooperation agreement joint committee meetings were
organised about every 18 months in order to discuss current and future
projects. The 12th meeting of the joint cooperation committee was
held in Brussels
in October 1995. Four sub-committees had been set up under the joint
cooperation committee to deal with the following areas: trade, economic and
industrial cooperation, science and technology, and forests. The
sub-committees normally met once a year and reported to the joint cooperation
committee. The European Union participated in those ASEAN meetings that were
open to ASEAN dialogue partners, namely the Post-Ministerial Conference and
the ASEAN Regional Forum, which took place immediately after the annual ASEAN
ministerial meeting. The Post-Ministerial Conference reviewed the general
political and economic situation in the ASEAN region and the state of
relations between ASEAN and the EU, while the Regional Forum discussed the
security problems affecting the ASEAN region. The Brussels-based ASEAN
Committee ensured that daily contact could be maintained between the EU and
ASEAN. This Committee grouped together all ASEAN representatives in Brussels. The
chairmanship of the Committee, which ran for one year, was organised on
similar lines to that of ASEAN. In addition, a national coordinator was
appointed for a period of two years. Meetings between the Commission and the
Brussels-based ASEAN Committee were held on specified dates.