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  1. Negotiations

EU-ASEAN


The European Union was planning on a bilateral trade agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for many years. On 4 May 2007, the two sides agreed to start negotiations.

The EU-ASEAN FTA is supposed to be a comprehensive agreement. While ASEAN states are hoping to gain additional market access in the EU, the agreement is expected to have a much bigger impact in strengthening business opportunities for European TNCs in the region.

The talks have moved slowly and it's not clear if the final deal will take the form of separate agreements between the EU and individual ASEAN members, something the EU seems to prefer. This would allow European governments to avoid taking on any commitments that support the regime in Burma but also to deal with the economic heterogeneity among ASEAN members.

EU procedures require that all ASEAN countries sign a Partnership Cooperation Agreement, containing a commitment to human rights, as a prerequisite to an FTA. Indonesia has already concluded its PCA with the EU, Singapore and Thailand are in advanced stages of negotiations, and Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei are soon to begin. The Philippine government stated early on that it expects problems in negotiating a PCA, as the agreement apparently requires that the signatory state join the International Criminal Court.

Click here for the European Commission's page on the EU-Indonesia FTA

last update: May 2012
photo: People's Health Movement

Thai PM puts free trade agreement on the table with EU
7-Mar-2013     Financial Times
If concluded successfully, an FTA would kick in just as Thailand’s cushy preferential trade treatment under the EU’s generalised system of preferences expires in 2015.
Merkel, Yudhoyono call for free trade agreement
6-Mar-2013     DW
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a free-trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia. This, she said, could be a first step towards a wider trade agreement.
Ambitious EU-Philippines FTA could erode people’s rights and undermine development
6-Mar-2013    
In the wake of recent pronouncements from the Philippine government of its proposal to begin bilateral free trade negotiations with the European Union this month, the EU-ASEAN FTA network expresses its serious concern that the proposed agreement would be too ambitious for the Philippines, erode people’s rights and undermine development.
EU-Thailand FTA negotiations: What fate for access to medicines?
6-Mar-2013    
Health Action International Europe, Oxfam and Action against AIDS Germany have serious concerns over the repercussions the EU-Thailand FTA will have on access to medicines in Thailand and the region.
Thai civic groups warn against pact with EU
4-Mar-2013     Bangkok Post
About 1,500 members of the groups under the umbrella network of FTA Watch gathered outside Government House yesterday to voice their concerns.
EU trade talks offer poor deal
1-Mar-2013     Bangkok Post
Should we trade poor people's lives with trade benefits for agro-industry corporations? This question has been posed by civic groups to the Yingluck Shinawatra government concerning the FTA negotiations between Thailand and the EU. It is not the only question that needs to be answered, however.
Civil society campaign kick-off to scrutinize the Thailand-EU FTA negotiation
28-Feb-2013     FTA Watch
Civil society groups based in Thailand kick off their campaign to monitor the EU-Thailand FTA negotiations
DTI officials to prod EU on free trade pact
27-Feb-2013     GMA
Philippine Department of Trade and Industry officials will likely confer the European Union early March on moving forward the ongoing process to forge a free trade agreement that will give the Philippines better access to the world's single largest market.
EU Parliamentarians push RP FTA
18-Feb-2013     Manila Bulletin
Visiting EU Parliamentarians expect the bilateral free trade agreement between the Philippines and EU will be completed in one and a half years as the legislators urged for further opening of the domestic economy to shore up the country’s foreign direct investments and more trade.
EU’s ambitious trade and investment agenda: At what cost to the Philippines?
13-Feb-2013    
Statement issued by the EU-ASEAN Network in connection with the European Union - Philippines Inter-parliamentary Meeting where seven Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Delegation of the European Parliament for Relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are visiting the Philippines from 11-15 February 2013.