ASEAN and the EU: 25 years of partnership for peace

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Jakarta

This week the EU is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of our Co-operation Agreement signed with Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Since 1980, Southeast Asia has undergone profound and positive transformation. Poverty has been reduced at an unprecedented pace, economies enjoy impressive growth rates, and democracy is gaining ground. Similarly, the European Union has also undergone important changes and while ASEAN has expanded to include Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the EU has undertaken its own Enlargement, growing to 25 countries. We have also adopted the world's first ever single currency and emerged as a political entity on the world scene.

It is hardly surprising that the EU and ASEAN have developed such a warm and deep relationship: We share many common traits -- particularly our linguistic and cultural diversity. Like the EU, ASEAN has economic weight, and is playing an increasingly important role on the international stage. Our two regional organizations share the goal of ensuring peace and stability.

The EU is ASEAN's second largest export market and the third largest trading partner after the United States and Japan. We want to harness further trading opportunities and build growth and prosperity to the mutual benefit of both regions which is why my colleague, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, helped establish an EU-ASEAN "vision group" in the spring of this year, to explore the potential for a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and ASEAN. Pending this group's conclusions, we will decide on how to take this very important initiative forward in early 2006.

However, our relationship is not simply a political or economic arrangement: It has an important human dimension. Last year's tragic Tsunami served to demonstrate an instinctive feeling of solidarity between our peoples. In the aftermath of this catastrophe, we co operated effectively to bring humanitarian aid where it was needed, with the first help already on its way from Europe just hours after the Tsunami struck. We continue to work together to reconstruct the devastated areas. So far the EU has promised 1.5 billion euro for rehabilitation and reconstruction and the money is being made available very rapidly.

In the conflict torn region of Aceh, the increase in national solidarity after the Tsunami, opened a window of opportunity for peace. The EU helped provide funding and support for President Ahtisaari's mediation between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Government of Indonesia. Immediately after the signature of the peace agreement, an unprecedented joint mission between EU Member States and ASEAN was launched to monitor the peace. This mission is supported by a number of assistance programs contributed by the European Commission, including support for the reintegration of GAM combatants. Altogether, this package is proving to be a remarkable success.

The joint EU-ASEAN Monitoring Mission has shown that Europe and Southeast Asia can successfully cooperate in building peace even in the most sensitive of circumstances. It shows how much scope there is to broaden our co operation in the future.

From human rights to climate change, the environment, human trafficking, and the trade in illegal drugs -- there is a great deal more we can do together.

Naturally the EU supports ASEAN's efforts towards greater regional cooperation. The European case demonstrates that greater integration is the best guarantee of stability and prosperity. We await with keen interest the outcome of the next ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur and especially the announcement of an ASEAN Charter reinforcing its common institutions and decision making process. We applaud these steps forward and as always stand ready to share our own experience with ASEAN in the field of integration.

In today's globalised world there is untold value in deepening links no matter how far geographically we may lie apart. What better way to celebrate our 25th anniversary this week than to reflect on how much "closer" we have become through working together politically, economically and socially, and at the same time look forward to an even stronger partnership in the years to come.

The writer is European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy.