EU Trade Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner made the following statement:
"Creating new business
opportunities for European companies in the
dynamic ASEAN countries will strengthen the
competitiveness of manufacturers, farmers and
service providers in the EU. While we don't lose
sight of our ultimate goal of achieving an
agreement within a regional framework, I welcome
today's decision which will allow us to move
forward and re-engage with this important region
through negotiations with individual ASEAN member
states."
After the US and China, the
group of ASEAN countries is the EU's 3rd largest
trade partner outside Europe. Trade in goods and
services between the EU and ASEAN has grown by
more than a quarter between 2004 and 2008,
reaching € 175 billion in 2008.
The envisaged FTAs are
expected to lower or abolish the currently
existing tariff and non-tariff (i.e. regulatory
and technical) barriers to trade and investment in
many ASEAN markets, so as to further strengthen
the EU's commercial ties with the dynamic ASEAN
region. Creating new export opportunities in the
ASEAN markets is a priority under the EU's
Global Europe trade strategy.
Background
The Commission had launched
negotiations on a region-to-region FTA with ASEAN
countries in 2007. However, progress in these
negotiations was slow and both sides agreed in
March 2009 to make a pause.
As the EU remains committed
to strengthening its competitiveness through
increased market access in ASEAN countries, EU
Member States have now asked the Commission to
pursue, on a case-by-case basis, negotiations with
those individual ASEAN countries showing interest
in negotiating comprehensive FTAs bilaterally.
The ultimate objective,
however, remains to reach an agreement with the
ASEAN region. The bilateral agreements could
become valuable building blocks towards that
objective.
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