ASEM - an overview

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The ASEM process : Overview

Brussels, July 1999

Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework (AECF)
 

1) Background

The ASEM process began in March 1996 with the first Asia-Europe Meeting in Bangkok. Bringing together the Heads of State and Government of ten Asian countries(1) and of the fifteen Member States of the EU, together with the President of the European Commission, this initial Asia-Europe Summit engendered an ongoing process involving summit-level meetings every second year, ministerial meetings (Foreign, Economic and Finance) in each intervening year, and more frequent meetings at the senior-official and working level. 

The second ASEM Summit was held in London in April 1998, with the third ASEM Summit to be held in Seoul in October 2000. The fourth Summit will be held in Europe in 2002. Three Ministerial meetings were held in Asia in 1997, and three in Europe in 1999 (the Economic Ministers' meeting will be held in Berlin on 9-10 October, while Finance and Foreign Ministers' meetings were held in January and March, in Frankfurt and Berlin). Ministerial meetings in 2001 are already set (Foreign in Beijing, Finance in Japan, Economic probably in Vietnam), while France has offered to host the fourth Finance Ministers' Meeting in 2003.

The origins of the ASEM process lay in a mutual recognition, in Asia and in Europe, that the relations between our two regions needeed to be strengthened, to reflect the increased importance of Asia on the world stage, and to move away from an "aid and trade" relationship towards a more balanced relationship based on equal partnership. The Commission's "New Asia Strategy" of July 1994 already stressed the need for a new relationship, and in fact preceded Singapore's suggestion in November 1994 that an Asia-Europe Summit be considered. 

Key characteristics of the ASEM process include :

its informality (complementing rather than duplicating the work already being carried out in bilateral and multilateral fora); 
its multidimensionality (carrying forward equally a political, economic and cultural dimension) 
its emphasis on equal partnership, eschewing any "aid-based" relationship (taken forward under our bilateral relations) in favour of a more general process of dialogue and cooperation 
and its high-level focus, stemming from the Summits themselves. 
2) The process

Overall coordination of the ASEM process is in the hands of Foreign Ministers and their senior officials, assisted by an informal "coordinators meeting", bringing together two coordinators on each side (Presidency and Commission for the EU, and currently Thailand and Korea for the Asian side). Coordinators meet as and when required (perhaps two or three times a year), separately for general/political matters and for economic matters (with a separate "core group" coordinating structure on the finance side)

Key meetings within the ASEM process include the following : 

the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM - foreign affairs) meets at least once a year in its own right, in addition to meetings on the eve of ministerials. It has proven to be a useful opportunity for carrying forward the political dialogue (in a genuinely informal fashion, with substantive discussions over dinner among heads of delegation only), as well as dealing with process and coordination issues. The SOM will next meet in Finland on 3-4 November 1999, followed by one or two SOM meetings in Korea in 2000 (focusing on preparation of ASEM 3); 
the Senior Officials' Meeting on Trade and Investment (SOMTI ) will next meet in Brussels on 7-8 July 1999, focusing on preparation of the second Economic Ministers' Meeting in Berlin in October. SOMTI provides the key forum in which to address economic issues, including both the specific trade facilitation and investment promotion action plans (TFAP and IPAP) approved at the London Summit, as well as permitting a useful informal dialogue on WTO issues and on other economic matters; 
Finance deputies also meet from time to time. No date has yet been set for the next meeting, though Finance officials meet regularly in "core group" format on the margin of the WB/IMF spring and autumn meetings; 
the Asia-Europe Business Forum, a forum where the private and public sectors meet to exchange views, will be held for the fourth time this autumn, in Seoul, from 29 September to 1 October 1999. This provides an opportunity for the business community to review issues relating to trade and investment matters, and should provide an important input to the official dialogue through SOMTI and EMM. 
in the specific field of customs, meetings of Customs Directors-Generals have been held every two years (most recently in Brussels on 23 June 1999); 
the upcoming Science & Technology Ministerial Conference, to be held in Beijing on 14-15 October, will be the first of its kind, and is being prepared in a close collaboration between the Chinese hosts and the Commission. 
In addition to these "core" meetings, a whole series of expert-level working groups has been established, including : 

thematic meetings on trade issues such as standards, customs, IPR, SPS, government procurement etc, in the context of TFAP; 
regular meetings of an Investment Experts' Group (IEG) in the context of IPAP, discussing both investment policy and investment promotion issues; 
in the social and cultural field, a number of meetings on issues as diverse as child welfare, cultural heritage, "young leaders" symposia; 
and a range of cultural and intellectual "networking" events arranged through the Asia-Europe Foundation (see below) 
While ASEM remains an informal dialogue-based process, there is nevertheless a small number of specific institutions or programmes which have been created in response to Summit decisions. These include notably : 

the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), a not-for profit foundation established in Singapore with the objective of promoting Asia-Europe exchanges in the intellectual, social and cultural fields. Established in 1997, and funded by voluntary contributions from ASEM partners, ASEF has already implemented a large number of seminars and symposia in these different fields. The EC is the largest single contributor to ASEFs budget, with a grant of ¬3.5m (within total pledges of some 21.0mEuro); 
the Asia-Europe Environment Technology Centre (AEETC), established in 1999 in Bangkok, and aimed at promoting Asia-Europe cooperation on key environmental themes. The EC, with a grant of 3.25mEuro, is again the largest single contributor, within a total budget of some 5.3mEuro; 
the ASEM Trust Fund, implemented by the World Bank, with the objective of providing technical assistance and training in both the financial and social sectors for Asian countries affected by the financial crisis. Established in June 1998, with a time frame of two years, the Trust Fund has attracted pledges of some 42.0mEuro from ASEM partners (within which 15.0mEuro from the EC, as the largest single contributor). This is complemented by a European Financial Expertise Network (EFEX), operated by the Commission in cooperation with Member-State authorities as a means of increasing the share of European financial-sector expertise in such activities. 
Outside the official ASEM framework, an "unofficial ASEM" has also come into being, with meetings of Asian and European NGOs on the margins of both the Bangkok and London summits, drawing their inspiration from the official Summits but establishing their own agenda. 

Process issues have been addressed in two ways :

an Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework (AECF) was adopted at the London Summit, setting out certain key objectives, priorities and procedures for the ASEM process, and providing for a simple and practical coordination mechanism; 
an Asia-Europe Vision Group was launched at the London Summit, bringing together eminent personalities from each ASEM partner with the mandate of examining Asia-Europe relations in a medium to long-term perspective, and producing recommendations for an "ASEM vision for the beginning of the new millenium". This group presented its report to Foreign Ministers in March 1999, and the report will be considered (together with Ministers' views) at the Seoul Summit. The first substantive discussions on the Vision Group report will take place at the SOM in Finland in November. (The full text of the report is available on the Internet at http://www.mofat.go.kr/aevg) 
3) Achievements and issues

In terms of the new spirit of partnership and dialogue decided upon at the inaugural Bangkok Summit, there is little doubt that the ASEM process has been a considerable success. This was clearly shown in the discussions at the London Summit, on the Asian financial crisis and other broad issues, where a free exchange of views represented a very open dialogue between European and Asian heads of government. Between summits, the ASEM political dialogue (both at Ministerial and SOM level) has developed gradually but substantively, while in the economic field, it has been possible to work towards producing a greater consensus on the merits of multilateral liberalisation, as well as promoting a more intense informal dialogue on practical issues relating to both trade and investment facilitation. In the social and cultural field, both through ASEF and otherwise, there has been a gradual expansion of contacts and networking, which in the longer-term will certainly help promote the greater mutual awareness identified by both regions as a key in our future relations. And the ASEM process has also helped to promote greater contact within Asia, enhancing contacts between the ASEAN ASEM partners and China, Japan and Korea. 

Nevertheless, the very nature of the ASEM process has created its own questions, reflecting in part the heterogeneity of Asian participation (which necessarily brings very different perspectives to the table, both on political and economic issues), and the multiplication of fora (which has led to a certain concern over proliferation of meetings and forum fatigue). And the risk of overlap between ASEM dialogue on the one hand, and our bilateral and multilateral dialogues on the other, makes it essential to focus on the comparative advantage of the ASEM process (based on its informal character, and ability to promote understanding and thus facilitate progress in more formal fora). 

Two other long-term issues which remain to be resolved are :

the question of enlargement, where countries like India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand have since before the first Summit in Bangkok expressed a strong interest in participating in the ASEM process, but where no consensus has yet been possible. The Bangkok and London Summits had confirmed that ASEM is an open and evolutionary process, and the question is likely to arise again in preparing for the third ASEM in Seoul; 
the question of safeguarding the momentum of the ASEM process, and ensuring that concrete benefits can be shown (even if informal and sometimes intangible), to match the initial enthusiasm generated in Bangkok and maintained in London. ASEM 3 in Seoul will have a key role here in setting the way forward for the process as a whole. 
4) Upcoming events

The next major ASEM event will be the second ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting, in Berlin on 9-10 October. It is hoped in particular that this meeting will be able to produce an ASEM "message" towards the WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle the following month. 

Thereafter, attention will be focused on preparations for the third ASEM Summit, in Seoul on 20-21 October 2000. This Summit will have a special importance in setting the way forward for ASEM, and in helping the ASEM process "graduate" from a new and exciting idea to a mature and substantive dialogue, while retaining the informality which gives the process its distinct character. 

(1) Asian participants in ASEM include seven ASEAN countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), plus China, Japan and Korea.