EU-ASEAN: Natural Partners

I would like to share with you some highlights of a brochure with the above title published by the EU Delegation in Jakarta. It clearly outlines that ASEAN and the EU are natural partners, as they have a common DNA:

* The EU and ASEAN share the same goals for their citizens – peace, stability and prosperity;

* The EU is ASEAN’s 3rd largest trading partner;

* In the ASEAN Regional Forum together with other partners, ASEAN and the EU address regional and international security issues of common interest and concern.

The two regions have been intertwined for centuries, demonstrating a strong joint history. Within the context of deepening relations for the next decade, the main objectives are

* Strengthening EU-ASEAN trade and investments by building on strong commercial ties; the aim is to reach agreement on bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) that will become stepping stones for a region-to-region agreement;

* Expanding development cooperation between ASEAN and the EU by sharing experiences and contributing to prosperity; and

* Supporting the creation of the ASEAN community in terms of support for the political-security community, the economic community and the socio-cultural community.

Let’s look at the areas of EU support to the ASEAN community:

a. Political-Security Community – border management, confidence building, international peace and mediation, parliamentary diplomacy, asymmetric risks;

b. Economic Community – internal markets, customs, standards, statistics, trade liberalization, energy;

c. Socio-Cultural Community – education, biodiversity, relief and disaster management, media, climate change, science and technology.

Looking at those areas, we can see the involvement of the EU / EU Delegation in many of them in the Philippines. In our discussions with the leadership of the EU Delegation in the Philippines it is obvious how determined the EU Delegation players are to make the support relevant to Philippine citizens as incoming ASEAN citizens.

ASEAN also benefits from other regional, thematic and humanitarian EU programs in the following areas:

- Higher education exchange: about 250 students and scholars from ASEAN are awarded Erasmus Mundus scholarships for studies in Europe each year;

- Environment and climate change: cooperation to promote sustainable development and protect biodiversity. A major initiative in this area is Switch-Asia, which is promoting sustainable consumption and production; the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines is involved in a number of Switch-Asia projects;

- The Forest Law enforcement Governance and Trade  initiative aims to improve sustainability and legality in the forest sector;

- Regional health hazard programs: cooperation in combating highly pathogenic diseases;

- Good governance: support for a network of 32 cities in five ASEAN member stat4es, aiming to share knowledge and best practices on good local government for improving living conditions – ECCP and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation will run a new project, co-funded by the EU Delegation – in this area;

- Humanitarian support to respond to disasters: the Philippines got its share of disasters, from Pablo to Yolanda and Glenda, and the earthquakes in Bohol and Cebu; the EU Delegation got immediately involved in support;

- Aid to uprooted people in the region; and

- Cooperation in the area of science and innovation.

Let me repeat what has been said at the beginning: EU and ASEAN have a common DNA and the ASEAN-EU relations are based on a strong history. There is no question that the cooperation will continue to flourish.