The Jakarta Globe - 27 January 2026
By Jayanty Nada Shofa
Over the past years, the EU has struck — or is nearing — trade deals with several ASEAN members. The question arises of whether Europe is considering having a regional trade deal with the Southeast Asian club. EU Ambassador to ASEAN Sujiro Seam said Monday that the two blocs had agreed to make a region-to-region trade deal a “long-term objective”, but it might take some time before the negotiations can begin.
“In the meantime, we will focus on bilateral trade agreements between EU and ASEAN member states as building blocks [towards a regional one],” Seam told the Jakarta Globe on the margins of a dinner reception.
The EU so far has secured three of these so-called “building blocks”. The 27-stronv grouping already has existing trade pacts with Singapore and Vietnam, respectively. The third one is a deal, dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with Indonesia, although this document still awaits lawmakers’ approval. This accord still has to go through some legal processes before the tariff-free export for Indonesian goods can enter into force early next year. According to the Seam, negotiations are underway for similar trade pacts with Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Seam looked back on EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič promise to finalize the ongoing negotiations by 2027.
“Implicitly, that means that the question of region-to-region free trade agreement could indeed be reviewed after 2027,” Seam revealed to the Globe.
Earlier that day, Seam had said that the US President Donald Trump’s imposition of heavy tariffs on Southeast Asian nations, on top of Washington’s aid withdrawal, had played in the EU’s favor. In April 2025, Trump unveiled a reciprocal tariff salvo with rates on ASEAN members that ranged between a staggering 49% to 10%. The import duty rates on some countries have dropped after countries rushed to appease Trump's tariff wrath.
“ASEAN tries to keep a balance as it has to face a change of posture from the US. [ASEAN] wanted to keep the balance among its external partners. It didn’t want to hedge all bets on China. So naturally, it turns to other partners,” Seam remarked.
The EU reported that its goods trade with ASEAN totaled EUR 258.8 billion ($307.5 billion) in 2024. The European grouping had exported around EUR 94.3 billion worth of goods to ASEAN, while recording around EUR 164.5 billion in imports. Services trade volume reached EUR 132.1 billion in 2023.
At home, expectations are soaring high for the upcoming Indonesia-EU CEPA. Bilateral trade with the EU amounted to $30.4 billion in 2024, data showed. Senior minister Airlangga Hartarto estimated that these numbers could “jump about 2.5 times within 4 or 5 years [of implementation]”. Business lobby group Apindo chairwoman Shinta Kamdani has also described the CEPA as a “great boon for diversification”.
