EU sets out ideas on boosting ties with Asia

EU sets out ideas on boosting ties with Asia

BRUSSELS (Reuter): The European Commission this week sets out
its shopping list for a March summit in Bangkok between the
European Union and 10 Asian tiger economies that will focus on
politics and improved trade.

The contents of the list, to be finalized in Brussels on
Tuesday, has been thrashed out ahead of time in consultation with
officials from Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

It is, in fact, a less than subtle attempt by the 15-nation
European Union to harness its geriatric economies to the raw
energy being generated by the 10 Asian countries.

Included in its aspirations are strengthened political
contacts at both bilateral and multi-national levels, greatly
enhanced trade and investment, promotion of human rights and
democracy, protection of the environment and cooperation in
regional security issues.

"The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) will constitute one of the
most important initiatives undertaken by the European Union and
its member states and 10 of the most dynamic countries in Asia,"
according to a background paper on the meeting prepared by the
Commission, the EU's executive body.

"The first ASEM should constitute a new milestone by allowing
the participants to give impetus to the political will to
intensify political dialogue, strengthen trade and economic
relations and reinforce cooperation in various fields between the
two regions," a draft statement from the Commission to the EU's
Council of Ministers says.

"This new partnership should be based on the promotion of
political dialogue, the deepening of economic relations and the
reinforcement of cooperation in various fields," it adds.

All the participants in the Bangkok summit on March 1 and 2
have been at pains to ensure that the meeting stresses the
positive -- politics, trade and economics -- and skates
cautiously over the more contentious issues such as human rights,
democracy and social protection.

"In the eyes of the Asian participants, the declared aim of
ASEM is to reinforce the weak link in the triangle of relations
between Asia, North America and Europe," the Commission's draft
to the Council of Ministers says.

"The Asian participants thereby hope that Europe will pay much
greater attention to, and have greater presence in Asia so as to
balance their relations with other partners."

The political section of the Bangkok summit will emphasize
support for the World Trade Organization, reform of the United
Nations, nuclear non-proliferation and cooperation in security
and the settlement of regional disputes.

The economic section will stress the need to wrap up a global
package on liberalizing telecommunications networks and maritime
transport -- two items left over from the Uruguay Round of talks
under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

It will also urge the adoption of global rules for foreign
investments and reinforced cooperation on rules for financial
services.

Asia as a whole is the EU's largest trading partner,
accounting for 23.2 percent of the bloc's external trade in 1994,
and its economies are growing rapidly.

Even six weeks before the meeting there is agreement that it
will be followed by working groups and ministerial level
gatherings, with a second summit tentatively proposed to take
place in Britain in the first half of 1998.