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

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.