EU-Asean FTA talks at intense exploratory stage
The Edge, 18 January 2006
EU-Asean FTA talks at intense exploratory stage
By Kevin Tan
EU-Asean free trade talks are at "an intense" exploratory stage and the third high-level meeting of trade officials from both regions is scheduled to take place in Bangkok next week, said EU envoy to Malaysia, Thierry Rommel.
"No decision has been taken yet, but we are at an intense exploratory stage," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 19 after attending a briefing on benefits of EU’s new generalised scheme of preferences to Malaysian exporters. The briefing was organised by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers.
Rommel said EU and Asean trade officials had held meetings in Vietnam and Belgium last year and decided to engage consultants to study the potential benefits of an EU-Asean FTA.
He added that the earlier meetings also allowed officials from both regions to clarify their positions.
Rommel said EU felt that the FTA should be "wide in scope". "For us, an FTA is an instrument that is ambitious and not limited to merchandise and trade and tariff issues," he said.
Among others, EU wanted harmonalisation of trade rules and regulations under the proposed FTA. "It must be WTO-plus and not a translation of existing WTO rules," Rommel said.
Meanwhile, Asean countries also had their own views. For example, they do not want rules on government procurement to be included, said Rommel.
On whether the issue of Myanmar is an obstacle to the proposed EU-Asean FTA, Rommel said: "At this stage, we have not addressed the issue of Myanmar. It’s purely from an economic angle."
He said there was also a possibility for EU to pursue an FTA with individual Asean countries, instead of a bloc.
Asked if EU was negotiating individual FTAs with Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, Rommel said the discussions with those countries were not for FTAs.
He said they were related to partnerships and cooperations agreements, which would cover a whole range of issues such as common security, immigration, economic cooperation and human rights.
He added that Malaysia was also invited to such negotiations when it was initiated in May, 2005.
