ASEAN-EU FTA: Study due out next April
Bangkok Post, 14 October 2005
TRADE ASEAN-EU FTA: Study due out next April
WORANUJ MANEERUNGSEE
Brussels - Policymakers from Asean and the European Union are expected to receive a feasibility study on the free-trade agreement between the two blocs in April, according to an EU trade official.
The study should be ready in time for the trade ministers when they attend the next Asean-EU economic ministers’ retreat, according to Sandra Callagan, deputy head of the EU unit overseeing Southeast Asian affairs.
The EU and Asean agreed to set up a vision group'' shortly after EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and 10 Asean economic and trade ministers met in Vietnam last April.
Ms Callagan said the study mainly would look at economic models and tax benefits for the two regions. The 25-country EU has its own qualitative analysis and sectoral assessment on the effects a potential EU-Asean FTA will have on both sides.
As well, EU officials have sounded out the private sector on where its interests lie in the 10 Asean countries.The Asean region is particularly important for the EU because of its high value and regionalism,’’ she said.
She noted that while Asean members did not have many things in common, unlike their EU counterparts, collectively they could succeed in what they have tried to do. So sharing experiences is the thing we are thinking about.''
Asean raised the issue of forming a bilateral FTA with the EU, the world's largest single market, when Pascal Lamy was the EU trade commissioner. Mr Lamy is now the director-general of the World Trade Organisation.
As a technocrat, Mr Lamy declined Asean's invitation since he foresaw many obstacles to establishing an FTA in which all parties would have to comply with a single rules-based system. In this respect, Asean still lags far behind the EU, which already has a single currency.
However, when Mr Lamy's successor, Mr Mandelson, a former British Labour politician, took over the job, he changed the strategy.Mr Mandelson looks only for vision and allows the officials to work on details. Mr Lamy has a different working style. He knows every detail and you can sit down to talk with him on everything,’’ an EU official in Brussels said.
The EU-Asean negotiations are expected to take off once the current World Trade Organisation talks are concluded. The EU projects the WTO talks to finish at the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007.
The vision group comprises members from the EU and from each Asean country, including Burma. However, military-ruled Burma is a concern for the EU, which continues to impose sanctions.
Regarding to bilateral trade between Thailand and EU, Ms Callagan said the EU’s major concerns were food safety and environmental standards. She said Thailand’s food exporters had a good record of meeting EU standards.
