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[FONT="Arial Black"][COLOR="blue"][SIZE="4"]ASEAN, a key partner for Europe[/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT]
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) encompasses 10 South East Asian countries. Its key position in the Asia-Pacific region, its dedication to peace and stability in the region and its important economic weight have made ASEAN an essential partner for the European Union in Asia. ASEAN was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signature of the Bangkok declaration by the five original member nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand). In 1984, Brunei Darussalam was admitted as the sixth member. In 1995, Vietnam also joined ASEAN. Lao People's Democratic Republic and Burma/Myanmar became members in 1997. Cambodia joined in 1999. The Member countries that make up ASEAN have a combined GDP of 656 billion € (2002), but there are large economic disparities between the ASEAN members. With a population of some 503 million people, they make up one of the largest regional markets in the world.
A significant development for ASEAN took place at the Bali Summit of October 2003: the ASEAN leaders projected the creation of an ASEAN Economic, Security and a Socio-cultural community. The EU greatly supports this development, considering its first hand experience of the benefits of closer regional integration.
The EU is a longstanding dialogue Partner of ASEAN. Co-operation between the EU and ASEAN is based on a Co-operation Agreement (1980) between the EC and member countries of ASEAN: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Protocols for the accession of Laos and Cambodia to the Agreement were signed in July 2000 but the EU has indicated that it cannot agree to negotiate an extension of this agreement to Burma/Myanmar as long as the situation as regards democracy and human rights in that country does not improve significantly. Burma/Myanmar, therefore cannot participate in EC-ASEAN co-operation actions.
In September 2001, the European Commission’s presented its Communication "Europe and Asia: A Strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnerships", which identified ASEAN as a key economic and political partner of the EC and emphasised its importance as a locomotive for overall relations between Europe and Asia. The Commission Communication ‘A New Partnership with South East Asia’, presented in July 2003, reaffirms the importance of the EC-ASEAN partnership .
Political Dialogue
Political dialogue between the EU and ASEAN firstly takes place at regular Ministerial Meetings. The foreign ministers of both the EU and ASEAN have met for political dialogue every second year since 1978.
The 15th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting was held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 10 March 2005. All 25 Member States were represented; Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner represented the European Commission. The meeting underlined by various pro-EU statements of ASEAN Ministers. It is clear that the enlarged EU is more than ever a reference-model for Southeast Asia in their desire for prosperity and stability within Asia. The EU's 'New Partnership with South East Asia' strategy was again confirmed as being at the origin of enhanced relations. The Meeting acknowledged its concrete results; increased support for ASEAN integration by making available EU's proper experience, start of negotiations with Singapore and Thailand on bilateral agreements, concrete joint co-operation in the fight against terrorism, substantial progress under the TREATI (trade) initiative, launch of tri-lateral co-operation, a joint EU-ASEAN visibility strategy, etc. The Meeting took a number of concrete decisions such as the endorsement of the Commission's READI (dialogue instrument for non-trade issues) principle, it approved the Indicative Programme 2005-2006, and agreed meetings of both Informal Coordinating Mechanism (ICM) and Senior Officials (SOM) in the course of this year with a view to step up contacts and prepare the ground for further progress in our relations. The meeting provided the Commission with an occasion to brief the region on the EC's substantial Action Plan for Post Tsunami reconstruction. The Ministers were briefed on the situation in Burma/Myanmar and discussed ways to promote positive developments within the country. Other international issues included Middle-East, Iraq, Korean Peninsula and cross-straits tensions. Furthermore, ASEAN and EU discussed WTO, Kyoto Protocol and Millennium Development Goals.
Trade relations
In 2003, the EU was ASEAN’s second largest export market and the third largest trading partner after the United States and Japan. EU exports to ASEAN were estimated at 39 billion €, while EU imports from ASEAN were valued at 66 billion €. The main exports from ASEAN to the EU are machinery, agricultural products, and textiles. In general, both EU imports and exports of goods to ASEAN between 2000 and 2003 have decreased, largely reflecting global trends, although at a slightly higher rate. In contrast, trade in services during the same period has increased for both EU imports and exports of services with ASEAN. EU FDI flows to ASEAN are recovering after the fall due to the financial crisis of 97-98. Singapore attracts more FDI than all the other ASEAN countries taken together and was the 4th largest destination for EU direct investment in 2003, after Russia and ahead of China.

The EC-ASEAN Joint Co-operation Committee (JCC) promotes and keeps under review the various co-operation activities envisaged in the Co-operation Agreement. An official-level Committee usually meets every 18 months. Sub-committees have been established for Trade and Investment, Economic and Industrial Co-operation, Science and Technology, Forestry, Environment, and Narcotics.
The Commission's Regional Indicative Programme for co-operation with ASEAN covering budget years 2005-2006 to the amount of 15-20 million reflects the new agenda with ASEAN following the ‘New Partnership’ communication. The programme was endorsed at the JCC of 26 February 2005 in Indonesia.