Asean and EU talks to resume

Asean and the European Union (EU) will continue their negotiations on a free-trade agreement next month in the Philippines, according to top Thai and EU officials.

The fourth round of talks ended in Bangkok last month. Thailand's Trade Negotiations Department director-general Chutima Bunyapraphasara said both sides would pursue the talks, although different stages of development within the Asean grouping had slowed progress on some issues.

 "We hope Asean and the EU will be able to finalise a comprehensive pact in the next two to three years covering trade, services and investment," she said.

Jean-Jacque Bouflet, chief of the Delegation of the European Commission, told The Nation the EU would start negotiating with individual Asean countries, if necessary.

The EU is serious in pushing through the FTA because of the growing importance of the 500-million Asean market.

A trade pact with the grouping would mean a single market for all 27 EU members whose companies could go into any Asean market under a single framework of rules, he said.

In the last round of talks in Bangkok, there were disagreements on certain issues, with the EU pressuring Asean to include labour, environment and intellectual property rights protection under the agreement.

But Asean said members had different stages of development so the EU should be more flexible with each.

In the fifth meeting scheduled for next month, the two sides expect progress so there could be an agreement soon, Chutima said.

An official source familiar with the Asean-EU talks said the EU wants to see progress, given that talks between Asean and Japan as well as South Korea have already moved ahead.

The US has also built its presence in Asean via an FTA with Singapore, while negotiations on a Thai-US FTA could be resumed at any time.

The EU is currently the third largest market for Asean as well as Thailand. Trade value between Thailand and the EU is worth more than US$30 billion (Bt951 billion) a year.

The EU-Asean FTA talks were initiated in 2006 and a feasibility study in April last year showed benefits for both regions.

Negotiations began early this year, based on a comprehensive agreement comprising trade in goods, services and investment.