EU set sights on free trade accord with ASEAN

EU set sights on free trade accord with ASEAN

Agence France-Presse, Brussels

The European Union is ready to negotiate a free trade agreement
with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after the
current round of WTO-led talks, the European Commission said on
Monday.

The EU's executive arm will this week formally agree a
document setting out a strategy for relations between the EU -
currently 15 members, expanding to 25 next year - and the 10-
member ASEAN.

The commission is notably proposing a regional trade action
plan, called the trans regional EU-ASEAN trade initiative, said
spokesman Reijo Kempinnen ahead of the weekly commission meeting
Wednesday.

"If successfully implemented it would permit us to give
serious consideration to entering into a free trade agreement
once the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations is
successfully completed," he added.

The Doha development agenda, launched with great fanfare in
the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001, aims to establish a
more equitable approach to international trade for developing
countries.

The European commission added that the EU was also ready to
sign bilateral agreements with ASEAN states "to deepen
cooperation" on issues like human rights, good governance,
justice and home affairs, and fighting terrorism.

The idea of an EU-ASEAN free trade area was raised by German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder - whose country is the EU's biggest
economy - during a visit to Singapore in May.

An enlarged EU plus the 10 ASEAN states will comprise more
than one billion people and account for almost half of world
trade, the German leader said.

"We are thinking of more than just the reciprocal abolition of
customs duties. We are thinking of common technical standards,
the liberalization of services and the setting of clear rules for
investment," he said.