Global Perspectives: External relations of ASEAN

Learning Objectives:• Explains ASEAN external relations with the Northeast Asia by focusing

on special relations with China, Japan and South Korea• Analyzes ASEAN-EU relations and distinguishes between the two

organizations• Explains ASEAN-US relations by focusing on security and economic

cooperation• Explains ASEAN-Africa and South America relations in which have been

limited in dealing between them

In 1976, the first ASEAN Summit expressed to develop its external relations and cooperation with other countries.

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The 1st formal dialogue partners were Australia(1974) and New Zealand (1975), and followed by the USA, Japan, the UNDP, the European Union(1977), Canada (1981), and the UN (2002).

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ASEAN

ASEAN External Relations

After the Cold War ended in 1980s, ASEAN intensified its relations in Asia, particularly with dialogue partners such as South Korea, Pakistan, India, China, and Russia.

All these partnerships were meant to:

• promote trade and investment, • facilitate the transfer of technology, • improve access to markets of industrialized countries, and • enlarge ASEAN markets.

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ASEAN plus three

ASEAN maintains relationships with its neighbors (East Asia), particularly China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

This formation can be seen in two factors: • Interdependence, and • An external binding.

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•Later, the East and the Southeast Asia binds together what is called ASEAN plus three (ASEAN +3) in Kuala Lumpur in December 1997 in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The global financial crisis affected the entire region, promoting ASEAN and its neighbors to initiate a stronger monetary and financial cooperation and an improved regional economic surveillance and self-help mechanism.

Since its establishment, ASEAN+3 have cooperated mainly in the field of economy through free trade agreement.

The future cooperation will be on security and tourismwithin the entire region.

The recent ASEAN+3 in the political field focuses on terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, sea piracy, arms smuggling, money laundering, international economic crime, and cyber-crime.

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ASEAN and the EU

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EU history—after WWII, Jean Monnet, a French statesman promoted the idea of gradually uniting the democratic European nations both economically and politically.

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1992196719571951

Six nations established the

European Coal and Steel Community(ECSC), operating

in 1952.

Established European Economic Community (EEC), and established the European Atomic

Energy Community(Euratom). These operating in 1958.

These three organizations

(ECSC, Euratom, and EEC) merged together became

the European Community (EC).

Established the European Union in

Maastricht in Netherland, and

went into force on November 1, 1993.

Timeline

ASEAN’s key position in the Asia-Pacific region, its dedication to peace and its economic weight made it an essential partner for the European Union in Asia.

The EU had informally been the oldest dialogue partner of ASEAN began in 1972. It became a formally dialogued partner of ASEAN in 1977.

Over the years, the ASEAN-EU relations expanded, covering a wide range of areas including political and security, economic and trade, social and cultural, and development cooperation.

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In 2007, ASEAN-EU approved the joint Declaration, obliging both sides to address the interrelated challenges of climate change, energy security, environment and others…

In the area of political cooperation, the EU is actively involved in the ASEAN Regional Forum as an intergovernmental forum aiming to promote peace through dialogue in Asia Pacific.

In trade sector, the total ASEAN trade with the EU declined to US$ 171.7 billion in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.

In terms of total trade, the EU is 2nd after China. ASEAN received a total of 7.2 billion of foreign direct investment from the EU in 2009.

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The number of tourists coming from the countries of the European Union rose from 6.5 million in 2007 to 6.9million in 2008.

Both groupings have put negotiations on an ASEAN-EU Free Trade Area on hold.

The EU supports ASEAN integration in areas such as intellectual property rights, energy, environment, capacity-building and higher education.

The long-term cooperation of ASEAN and the EU is possible even though both groupings are quite different in terms of institutional structures, decision-making processesor the participation of interest groups and citizens.

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The very nature of ASEAN as an intergovernmental organization differs from that of the European Union that is supranational elements organization.

The patterns of regional integration in Southeast Asia and Europe are quite different.

The EU represents the high-level institutionalized integration while the ASEAN represents the low-levelone.

These levels refer to institutional structures, dominant principles, and decision-making processes within the grouping.

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Differences between ASEAN and the EU Institutional Structure

ASEAN European Union

13Top-down approach Bottom-up approach

Differences between ASEAN and EU Dominant Principles and Decision-Making Processes

ASEAN European Union

The EU has agreed on various supranational elements:• the European Parliament, • the European Council, • the Council of Ministers, • the European Commission, • the European Court of Justice serving as the final arbiter in disputes

about European law, and • the European Central Bank which is in charge of European monetary

policy.

ASEAN relies mainly on intergovernmental relations. Decisions are prepared by ministerial and senior officials’ meeting and finalized by the heads of government at the ASEAN Summit.

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The reasons why both organizations differ?

After World War II, the European countries were ready to make strong commitments to promote collective security;

The European countries have more or less the same political order, that is the liberal democratic system; and most of them share quite similar cultural patterns.

In comparison, Southeast Asia is a much more diverse region, for example, in terms of religious or languages, political system, and so on…

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Another reason for the distinction approaches of ASEAN and EU to regional cooperation may also be rooted in the U.S. policies towards the two regions.

In Europe, the US promoted multilateral cooperationwhile in Southeast Asia or in East Asia, the US chose to deal with East Asian countries individually and bilaterallywhich is a major barrier to the regional cooperation.

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ASEAN and the U.S. The U.S. approach to regional integration in Southeast

Asia looks as if it is going to change in the near future.

The formal dialogue partnership of ASEAN and the USA began as early as 1977. Through the years, both sides have come up with a number of agreements related to the trade in goods.

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In the 1st ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting in Singapore in 2009, they had a joint statement titled “Enhanced Partnership for Enduring Peace and Prosperity.” both parties also said to have developed mutually beneficial cooperation in many areas.

As far as the USA is concerned, ASEAN is now perceived as a key partner in the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

They further enhance economic cooperation under the ASEAN-US Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement.

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The economic relations between the two parties on the trade in goods reached US$178 billion in 2008 , and the US foreign direct investment of US$153 billion.

Aside from directly dealing with the USA, Member States of ASEAN also deal with the strongest countries in the world through other multilateral institutions like:

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ASEAN’s links to Africa and South America

Compared to other continents, ASEAN has limited dealing with Africa and South America.

ASEAN and African countries advance the common agenda of greater South-South cooperation.

The links between ASEAN and South America are getting closer. The MERCOSUR-ASEAN cooperation covers areas such as trade, intellectual property, energy and food security.

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Regional Organizations

Trade between ASEAN and Latin American countries has been demonstrating significant growth.

The nature of ASEAN’s potential partnership with African and South American countries is still within the broad context of cooperation which all parties consider as mutually beneficial.

Whether or not ASEAN’s trade and other relations would be as active and dynamic as the USA and European markets remains to be seen.

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