The High Representative of the European Union
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission adopted on
Tuesday a joint communication entitled “The EU and ASEAN: A partnership with a
strategic purpose” to scale up the European block’s partnership with ASEAN.
The joint
communication puts forward concrete ideas for taking EU-ASEAN relations to the
next level by providing a more coherent framework for sectoral cooperation and
by ensuring a sharper political focus.
"The
partnership between the EU and ASEAN is crucial and we are determined to build
on it and strengthen our political and economic cooperation. From trade to
security, from climate change to the rule of law, we have a deep cooperation
and as the EU we are supporting ASEAN integration,” said Federica Mogherini,
the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and vice president of the
European Commission, in a release on Wednesday.
“Deepening
and broadening our relation with ASEAN is key for the EU’s Asia strategy,” she
said.
Concrete
proposals and commitments contained in the joint communication include taking
trade relations with ASEAN to a different level and working toward an ambitious
region-to-region free trade agreement (FTA) building on bilateral agreements
between the EU and ASEAN member states.
The joint
communication is also aimed at stepping up cooperation on connectivity by
exchanging lessons learned and by mobilizing the financial means and expertise
to support ASEAN efforts, including on the single market and through
negotiating a civil aviation agreement.
Strengthening
collaboration on climate change and initiating a new, dedicated EU-ASEAN policy
dialogue on the environment and sustainable development are also points
highlighted in the joint communication.
“It also
aims to more than double EU financial support for ASEAN integration [to 170
million] which comes on top of the € 2 billion for ASEAN member states,” the EU
said.
“It also
aims to implement an extensive ‘package’ of new initiatives in the area of non-traditional
security, such as maritime security, disaster management and crisis response,
transnational crime, training courses on preventive diplomacy, crisis
management, mediation, the rule of law and election observation,” it said.
The
EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on July 23, 2014, welcomed the
stepping up of EU-ASEAN relations and expressed the wish to upgrade them to a
strategic partnership. (
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