Issues
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The EU and ASEAN first established relations in 1972, when the EU was still the European Economic Community. Relations were formalized in 1977 with the purpose of "allowing ASEAN to make representations against the growing protectionism of EEC countries." The EC-ASEAN Co-operation Agreement was signed in 1980, which contains objectives for "commercial, economic and technical co-operation." By the mid 1990s, the range of objectives discussed between the two parties began to widen to include political, security and cultural relations. The development of a "New Asia Strategy" in 1994 and an affirmation to continue strengthening relations led to the assembling of the first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in 1997. Also in 1997, the 12th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) produced a Joint Declaration to act as a guide for ASEAN-EU relations over the next decade. In addition to the AEMM, which is held every 18-24 months and which sets the pace for the government of relations, further meetings include the ASEAN-EU Economic Ministerial Meeting (AEMM), the ASEAN-EU Senior Officials Meeting (AESOM) and the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC). The Joint Declarations of each of the Ministerial Meetings can be accessed here. Of notable interest is the "Joint Declaration on Co-operation to Combat Terrorism" emanating from the 14th AEMM, which stresses the importance of ratifying anti-terrorism-related UN Conventions and strengthening links between law enforcement agencies from the respective regions. The ASEAN Secretariat official website provides a detailed "Overview of ASEAN-European Union Relations." |