ASEAN, EU agree on Asia-Europe summit

ASEAN, EU agree on Asia-Europe summit

SINGAPORE (AFP): ASEAN and the European Union (EU) set the
ball rolling yesterday for an inaugural summit of Asian and
European leaders to guide relations between the two continents
into the next century.

ASEAN's initiative for the summit, to be hosted by Thailand in
March 1996, was endorsed by the EU on the first day of a two-day
meeting of senior officials here, a Singapore foreign ministry
officials said.

"We are proceeding towards the actual launch (of the summit),"
the official, Ong Keng Yong, told reporters.

He said both sides agreed the summit will supply an
institutional framework that so far has been absent to push
political and economic relations between the two regions.

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong first proposed the
summit during a visit to France in October, but the initiative
has since become an ASEAN-driven project starting to take roots
now, Ong said.

The first summit will include leaders of the six member states
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam,
which will join the group this year, the 15 nations comprising
the EU, and China, Japan and South Korea, he said.

Other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and India
which reportedly have indicated their wish to attend the
inaugural summit, could join the forum at a future date, he said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand. The EU is made up of Austria, Belgium,
Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Informal

The inaugural assembly of heads of state and government will
be an "informal intermingling of Asian and European leaders in a
freewheeling atmosphere" and will not follow a structured format,
Ong said.

Singapore and Thailand will coordinate with France, Spain and
Germany -- the troika comprising the present, next and past
presidents of the EU -- to work out practical details of the
summit, Ong said.

Another meeting of senior officials will be held later this
year to complete the plans, he said.

The summit dominated the opening day of the meeting, which
also included a review of security issues such as tension over
the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea following
China's increased military profile around the region.

They also differed on Myanmar, with ASEAN believing in
"constructive engagement" of trade and business with the Burmese
regime to push for greater openness while the EU wanted a
"critical dialogue" with Rangoon, he said.

The two sides will turn Thursday to economic issues, including
thorny subjects such as labor standards in developing nations.

They will discuss how to boost two-way trade -- estimated at
about 50 billion US dollars in 1993 -- and investment links
between the two regional blocks.

An ASEAN document to be discussed by delegates said short-term
and narrow issues based on a "donor-recipient" relationship had
dictated the course of ties so far and called for a new footing.

The document also said contentious issues could increase as
ties between ASEAN and the EU expand, and called for resolving
them in a "constructive and non-confrontational manner."

"New generation issues like social clauses and labor standards
must be handled delicately. Where a meeting of minds appears
difficult, both sides could agree to disagree ..," it said.

Developing nations have protested moves by advanced countries,
including EU members, to link trade to such issues as labor
standards, human rights and the environment. They have called it
a protectionist ploy to block their exports.