Is there now a new era in EU-ASEAN relations?

Shada Islam, Journalist, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Brussels

Southeast Asian countries seeking to balance America's dominating presence in Asia with more robust European Union involvement can take heart: A new European Commission blueprint promises stronger trade and political links with the region, with the EU executive urging European governments and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to stop squabbling over human rights and focus instead on forging modern strategic partnerships to fight global terror, illegal immigration and poverty.

Hammered out under the supervision of Chris Patten, Europe's external relations chief and Hong Kong's last colonial governor, the unusually detailed EU strategy paper is a heaven-sent to Southeast Asian countries worried about being locked into a U.S.- dominated world -- and shut out of a rapidly-expanding and increasingly influential EU. "We have been asking ourselves where we stand in relations with an enlarged Europe," says an ASEAN envoy in Brussels, referring to the EU's planned expansion from 15 to 25 nations in May next year.

The EU was once seen as little more than a lucrative market for Asian exports but with a powerful new single currency, a tougher stance on North Korea and recent forays into global peace-keeping operations, it's undergone a significant image change in the region, he says.

Europe too is taking a second look at Southeast Asia. Bringing a new insight into an EU administration which has long been marked by a lack of extensive expertise on the region, Patten's document starts off by taking European governments to task for continuing to view Southeast Asia as a post-1997 economic has- been. In a wake-up call also directed at EU business leaders, the paper points out that ASEAN is not only back on its feet as one of the world's fastest growing regions, it's also being increasingly wooed by an array of Europe's competitors -- including the U.S. -- seeking new economic partnerships and alliances in the area. To secure global influence, it underlines, the EU must also become part of the "intense inter-weaving of economic ties" currently underway in Southeast Asia.

That means a switch in EU strategic priorities within the region. EU officials who long focused on building relations with ASEAN -- seeing the organization as a mirror-image of Europe's own regional cooperation ambitions -- now recognize that Southeast Asian governments are unlikely to achieve economic and political integration comparable to the EU.

These new EU partnerships will distinguish between countries on the basis of their development, political landscape -- and interest in closer links with Europe. Governments will be asked to choose from a flexible menu for cooperating with the EU, focusing on trade of course but also on ways to fight illegal immigration, improve environmental protection, step up joint research and development programs and cooperation in information technology. "

That may prove easier said than done, however. The EU's narrow focus on human rights and Burma has poisoned ties with the region for years and will remain an irritant in future relations. Responding to the Burmese junta's recent stepped-up repression of pro-democracy activists, EU governments agreed last month to impose even tougher sanctions against Rangoon. The decision extended the existing EU ban on granting visas to more than 200 people, including not just members of the government but also "those who profit from it."

The EU freeze on assets of Burmese nationals was also extended to cover more people, including generals, ministers, and people working in the tourism industry and in state enterprises. The EU banned the sale of arms to Burma and suspended preferential trade concessions for the country several years ago.

Also, for all his persuasive skills, Patten will find it difficult to keep the EU engaged in Southeast Asia at a time when most of the bloc's governments are obsessed by still-strained transatlantic ties, eastward enlargement and plans for a "wider Europe," including reinforced links with Western Balkan nations and the Middle East.

EU-ASEAN meetings are infamous for drawing only a limited number of top EU officials and true to form only three EU foreign ministers are expected to go to a meeting of European and Asian top diplomats in Bali, Indonesia on July 24-25.

Also disappointingly for many in Asia the new strategy cold- shoulders ASEAN demands for immediate negotiations on a bloc-to- bloc free trade pact. EU trade chief Pascal Lamy remains reluctant to clinch any bilateral trade deals, fearing that such initiatives could derail already-difficult discussions on a new trade liberalization package under way in the 146-member World Trade Organization (WTO). Lamy has, however, vowed to give "serious consideration" to such an accord once the WTO talks end in December 2004.

Until then, the EU says the two sides can start work on a "stable, predictable and transparent framework" for trade by slashing tariffs, working on joint health and sanitary standards and agreeing common rules for free and fair business competition. The EU's substitute plan is hardly the bold new trade initiative that Asians were waiting for and even European diplomats admit that Lamy's cautious approach will make it more difficult to woo the region's governments.

Still, post-Iraq war geopolitics has been drawing the two regions closer. In contrast to America's unabashed unilateralism and fondness for military solutions, European and ASEAN governments "have a preference for a peaceful and rule-based multipolar world, organized under the aegis of strong multilateral organizations," says an EU paper. Both regions, it adds, therefore need to promote "balanced international relations that will best guarantee their security and independence." Both also face an uphill struggle to combat modern security threats, including terrorism, people-smuggling and drug-trafficking.

There is also some good news on the Burma front. While ASEAN governments remain wary of EU preaching on human rights, democracy and good governance, many in Brussels now argue that disagreements over Burma must not be allowed to endanger the EU's relationship with the entire region.

That's the kind of unprecedented EU modesty which, even more than offers of new trade concessions, could finally convince Asian governments that Europeans are serious about establishing an equal partnership with the region.