Mid-life reflections on ASEAN and the EU<\/p>\n
Apichai Sunchindah, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia is hosting in Jakarta this week the 15th ASEAN-EU
\nMinisterial Meeting to discuss developments in the relations and
\ncooperation between the two regional blocs, the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU). One
\ninteresting observation is that both entities are "middle-aged";
\nthe EU will soon reach its 48th anniversary come March 25. ASEAN
\nis now in its 38th year and will be 40 in two years time.<\/p>\n
When EU celebrated its 40th birthday some eight years ago, The
\nEconomist ran a special series of articles on it. One of them had
\nthe headline Learning to love the EU, and contained expressions
\nlike "The European project was built by the elites; it has never
\nsought or expected widespread popular support... Certainly, the
\nEU is complex and hard to understand... The gap between the
\nbureaucrat in Brussels and the man in the street is widening...
\nSo how can Europeans learn to understand it, let alone love
\nit?...Europe needs to be explained to ordinary people...it is not
\nthe message that is at fault, but the failure to communicate it
\neffectively."<\/p>\n
Another article carried the heading Europe's mid-life crisis
\nand included descriptions such as "Europe's people seem
\ndisillusioned with the whole Euro-business...a dangerous gulf has
\nopened up between the Union and the concerns of its citizens...
\nIt all adds up to something of a mid-life crisis for the EU."<\/p>\n
As EU was approaching 40, it was facing key issues on three
\nfronts known as "pillars", i.e. common foreign and security
\npolicy, economic and monetary union and cooperation in justice
\nand home affairs. Interestingly, ASEAN had recently made
\ndeclarations to achieve a full-fledged ASEAN Community by 2020
\nbased on three pillars of cooperation in the political\/security,
\neconomic and socio-cultural spheres, broadly mirroring the EU
\npillars.<\/p>\n
As ASEAN's 40th anniversary nears, the association also faces
\nsome tough challenges in terms of addressing the political
\ndevelopments within one of its member states as well as a key
\n2007 deadline for economic integration whereby the more developed
\n6 countries of ASEAN are supposed to remove completely their
\nimport tariffs for the 11 priority sectors that have been agreed
\nupon earlier.<\/p>\n
Here in ASEAN, a paper recently tabled at one of the ASEAN
\nmeetings acknowledged the challenge that "after 37 years of
\npromoting cooperation in Southeast Asia, ASEAN has yet to gain
\nsubstantial public recognition of its contribution to the region.
\nIn fact, not many people outside the official ASEAN circles know
\nof ASEAN's existence, let alone appreciate ASEAN's
\nachievements... Obviously, ASEAN has to do more in promoting
\npublic awareness and common regional identity... Therefore public
\napathy about ASEAN must be overcome urgently. Only when there is
\nsufficient public interest and support to ASEAN can the noble
\nendeavor of building an ASEAN Community by the year 2020 be
\nachieved satisfactorily."<\/p>\n
One ASEAN observer noted, "ASEAN remains principally a project
\nof government leaders and technocrats...with little effort to
\nmake it a popular democratic enterprise. Not surprisingly, 'ASEAN
\nbrotherhood' has very little resonance at the grassroots."<\/p>\n
He went on to say, "There are many things we can learn from
\nEurope, including some negative lessons, and one of this is that
\nin the first three post-war decades, integration was a largely
\ntechnocratic process that was not subject to democratic
\nsurveillance. As a result the EU develop its notorious
\n'democratic deficit', resulting in the well-known disaffection
\namong many electorates in Western Europe that have stymied more
\ncomprehensive political integration and monetary unification."<\/p>\n
In late 2004, former EU Environment Commissioner Margot
\nWallstrom was appointed as the first ever EU Commissioner for
\nInstitutional Relations and Communications. This came about from
\nthe realization that an effective communications strategy to sell
\nthe EU to a still sizable number of skeptical and less than
\nenthusiastic European public was sorely needed particularly with
\nthe European constitution coming up for referendums and
\nratifications in each of the member states in the months ahead.
\nInterestingly, she has even co-authored a book last year entitled
\nTHE PEOPLE'S EUROPE or Why is it so hard to love the EU?<\/p>\n
In the UN, there is someone in the person of Shashi Tharoor,
\nthe Under Secretary General for Communications and Public
\nInformation who is in charge of the organization's communications
\nstrategy especially for ensuring coherence and effectiveness of
\nthe UN's external messages.<\/p>\n
However, within ASEAN, there is no such equivalent position
\nlike that in the UN or the EU yet although the need for effective
\ncommunications of ASEAN to the public is gradually being
\nrecognized. It is hoped that with the numerous impending
\nchallenges facing the association as it approaches "mid-life", it
\ncould even be a good opportunity to finally get some credible
\ncorporate communications strategy off the ground soon. After
\nalmost 40 years of cooperation, there should be something good to
\nshow and tell in a manner readily comprehensible to the
\nlayperson.<\/p>\n
It looks like institutions, big or small, all face the equally
\nimportant task of explaining itself in terms understandable to
\nthe stakeholders and the public at large. Perhaps this is
\nsomething organizations like the UN and EU, which are more
\nexperienced and endowed in this regard, could offer their
\nassistance and provide advice or lessons learned to ASEAN.<\/p>\n
While promoting visibility and better appreciation of ASEAN-EU
\ncooperation activities are no doubt beneficial, the ultimate
\nbarometer of success is probably how well ASEAN and EU are
\ncommunicated to and understood and accepted by their respective
\nconstituencies.<\/p>\n
The writer is the Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation
\nlocated in Jakarta. The views expressed in this article are his
\npersonal one. He can be reached at
\napichai.sunchindah@aseanfoundation.org.<\/p>",
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