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Brussels, 23rd July 2001

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Commissioner Patten will attend, as part of the EU troika, the annual ASEAN Regional Forum/Post Ministerial Conference meetings on 25-27 July in Hanoi. The ARF consists of the  $6($1 PHPEHU VWDWHV (, , , , , , , Burma, and ), the  $6($1 GLDORJXH SDUWQHUV (, Canada, , Democratic People’s Republic of Korea South Korea, United States, India, Japan, , Russia, Mongolia, and the EU) and the $6($1REVHUYHU ( ). The ARF is a regional security forum, which operates both first and second track diplomacy. The ‘first track’ covers the official work programme (annual ARF Foreign Ministers’ meetings, annual ARF Senior Officials’ meetings - SOM, and Inter- Sessional Support Groups (ISG) reporting to the SOM), and the ‘second track’ covers non-official seminars and workshops on regional security issue. The ASEAN countries have led a consensus for an evolutionary approach to the development of the ARF process. Thus development from Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) to Preventive Diplomacy (PD) to Conflict Resolution should be achieved in an incremental, step-by-step manner. However, progress on this path has been very slow. There was a good discussion in the Expert Group Meeting (EGM) in Seoul in November 2000 on trans-national crime, covering piracy, illegal migration and small arms. However, continued discussion of these topics at the EGM in Kuala Lumpur in April 2001 reached agreement on practical proposals related to piracy only. It failed to yield a clear idea of what the ARF can contribute to solutions for illegal migration and small arms. Three papers, on SUHYHQWLYH GLSORPDF\ 3' , UROH RI WKH $5) &KDLU and the Terms of Reference of the (PLQHQW 3HUVRQV¶ 5HJLVWHU, drafted by Singapore, Japan and Korea respectively, were discussed at the Seoul and Kuala Lumpur ISG meetings. The Vietnam SOM in May 2001 endorsed the second two, but Vietnam did not agree the Preventive Diplomacy paper. It now, however, appears to have accepted it. The EU supports all three papers. The EU has always supported the development and evolution of the ARF and would like to see a move towards institutionalisation, but this can only be done if everyone is on board. While EU participation on military and defence issues has yet to take off, there is hope that the development of EDSP will enable the EU to increase its profile on these issues. %DFNJURXQG

(8$6($15HODWLRQV The EU-ASEAN relationship is conducted on two levels: - the (8$6($1 'LDORJXH, taking the shape of regular Ministerial meetings (15+10, with a meeting every 18-24 months), which is a bloc-to-bloc relationship. Meetings were therefore blocked after Burma/ joined ASEAN in 1997 and remained so until the April 2000 General Affairs Council approved concurrently a toughening of the EU Common Position on Burma/Myanmar and an arrangement for the Burmese Foreign Minister to participate in EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meetings. - the (&$6($1&RRSHUDWLRQ$JUHHPHQW, was signed in 1980. Partners to the Agreement are the European Community and the original signatory countries of ASEAN, (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Since the enlargement of ASEAN, protocols for the accession of Cambodia and Laos to the Agreement have been negotiated and are in the process of ratification. Burma/Myanmar is not a signatory, and the EU has made it clear that this cannot be agreed for so long as the current political situation there continues.

7KHWK(8$6($10LQLVWHULDO0HHWLQJ The meeting was held in Vientiane, Laos, on 11-12 December 2000. It concluded with agreement on the Vientiane Declaration. Taking account of the climate prevailing during the run-up to the meeting - due to ASEAN discontent with the level of EU participation and EU concerns over the quality of the draft declaration prepared by Laos/ASEAN and the issue of Burma - the final outcome was a remarkable success. The main outstanding issue at the outset of the meeting had been whether the EU side could get a public statement from Burma/Myanmar on their agreement to a second EU Troika mission to Burma on the same conditions as the earlier Troika mission in 1999 (ensuring access to NDL and minorities). This was in the end achieved (though not in the Declaration text), with the Burmese Foreign Minister, in the Plenary Session, inviting the EU Troika to visit Burma in January 2001 and confirming that this second Troika mission, with the ‘sameopportunities’ as the July 1999 mission. The Joint Declaration offered EU-ASEAN support for the mission of the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy Tan Sri Razali Ismael. Other main conclusions of the meeting, outlined in the Declaration, were as follows: - Support for Indonesia’s territorial integrity (and the partnership for good governance); - Reference to the need for the DPRK to address non-proliferation concerns; - Broad convergence on the Middle East, with a reference to ‘excessive use of force’ in the Declaration; - ASEAN insistence on global financial architecture and the digital divide.

2 Some interesting thoughts on the future of ASEAN-EU relations were put forward by both sides, but no conclusions were achieved. The next EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting will take place in Europe on a date yet to be determined, (probably in 2003, under the Greek Presidency, although there may be an attempt to reinstate the meeting in 2002 under the Spanish Presidency).

7KH(&$6($1-RLQW&RRSHUDWLRQ&RPPLWWHH The Joint Co-operation Committee (JCC) was established under the EC-ASEAN Co- operation Agreement to “promote and keep under review the various co-operation activities envisaged … in the framework of the Agreement.” An official-level Committee, it « normally » meets once every year, or 18 months. Six sub- committees have been established for Trade, Economic and Industrial Co-operation, Science and Technology, Forestry, Environment, and Narcotics. The work of the JCC was also blocked following Burma/Myanmar’s accession to ASEAN, but a meeting was held in May 1999, with Burma/Myanmar as a “passive presence” only. This meeting approved a work programme to re-launch EC-ASEAN Co-operation, the “New Dynamic” in EU-ASEAN Relations. The Work Programme envisaged action under a number of headings – Responding to the Regional Crisis, Trade (Market Access, Trade Facilitation, Standards, Intellectual Property, Customs, Trade in Services, Investment), Sectoral Aspects, (Energy, Environment, Development Co-operation), Inter-Regional Strategy, (Regional Integration, Science and Technology), Stronger People to People Links, (Education and Training, Promotion of Mutual Understanding, Business Co-operation, Narcotics) Action has been taken on a number of these points, but it has not been possible to maintain a sense of momentum, partly because of the amount of energy that went into securing the December 2000 Ministerial Meeting, partly because of inadequate resources in the Units then responsible for project preparation and implementation and partly because of ASEAN’s own internal procedures. There is now a need to agree priorities for action in the next two/three years. A meeting of the “Informal Co- ordination Mechanism”, involving the Commission, Laos (ASEAN-EU Co-ordinator) and the ASEAN Secretariat will take place shortly to prepare the JCC.

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2QJRLQJSURMHFWVLQFOXGH - the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation in Manila, (¼ million), - the EU-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Programme, (¼PLOOLRQ  3URMHFWVLQDFWLYHSUHSDUDWLRQ GHFLGHG)LQDQFLQJ$JUHHPHQWV7$ &RQWUDFWVLQFRXUVHRIFRQFOXVLRQ LQFOXGH - the EC-ASEAN Regional Co-operation Programme on Standards, Quality and Conformity Assessment, (¼PLOOLRQ - EC-ASEAN COGEN III (Energy Co-operation), (¼PLOOLRQ  - EC-ASEAN Energy Facility, (¼PLOOLRQ  - ASEAN-EU University Network Programme, (¼PLOOLRQ  - ASEAN-EC Management Centre (Short-term mission to establish a business plan). 3URMHFWDWDQHDUO\VWDJHRISUHSDUDWLRQ - ASEAN-Support to Regional Integration (APRIS), (¼PLOOLRQ 

3 Website : http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations//intro/index.htm

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