Check against delivery! 

Thank you, President, Honourable Members [of the European Parliament],  

Today’s debate is a good opportunity to consider the European Union’s relations with ASEAN in the lead-up to the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on 14 December in Brussels.  

The Summit will bring together, for the first time, Heads of State and government on both sides, and will be an historic occasion to celebrate 45 years of dialogue relations and our Strategic Partnership with ASEAN. 

In fact, we reached this milestone of becoming Strategic Partners two years ago, on 1 December 2020.  

To recall, we have a strong and longstanding relationship with ASEAN.  

The European Union and ASEAN are the two most advanced regional integration organisations in the world.

The European Union is ASEAN’s third largest trade partner and second largest investor.

The European Union is a top development partner for ASEAN in support of regional integration, as well as with ASEAN Member States bilaterally.

The European Union also continues to seek enhanced EU participation in all ASEAN-led security fora, such as the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+).

The Summit will offer a political forum for the European Union and ASEAN to demonstrate a shared political determination to address the impact of multiple regional and global crises, including the Russian aggression in Ukraine, Myanmar, the climate crisis, as well as our joint attachment to international law, multilateralism and internationally agreed norms and standards.

The Summit will also be an opportunity to explore synergies between the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

Our Indo-Pacific Strategy specifically highlights the centrality of ASEAN.

At the Summit, Leaders are expected to endorse a Joint Leaders’ Statement as a main deliverable of the Summit. The Joint Leaders Statement will showcase our broad cooperation on trade, connectivity, security and climate change, as well as seek Leaders’ guidance for further cooperation.

In addition to the Joint Statement, leaders are expected to endorse the new EU-ASEAN Plan of Action 2023-2027, which outlines priorities for EU-ASEAN cooperation.   

Further deliverables are being prepared, such as support on connectivity under the Global Gateway, including a Team Europe Initiative on Sustainable Connectivity; Global Gateway projects put forward by Member States; the EU-ASEAN Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement, as well as further investment projects such as the ASEAN Green Catalytic Finance Facility. 

We also expect to use the occasion of the Summit for the signature of two bilateral Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with Malaysia and Thailand. 

Ahead of the Summit, several side-events [took] place.

On 12 December, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) [organised] an event on EU-ASEAN people-to-people cooperation in higher education.

On 13 December, DG INTPA [organised] an EU-ASEAN Youth Forum, which invites youth to discuss about priority issues for EU-ASEAN relations with EU and ASEAN representatives.  

In the afternoon of 13 December, the EU-ASEAN Business Council [organised] a Business Summit. The President of the European Council [Charles Michel], several key EU Commissioners, and ASEAN leaders attended the event, along with numerous European business leaders. 

This broad agenda of contacts shows the depth of our partnership. A partnership that is more important than ever, because the future of humankind will be decided in the Indo-Pacific. 

Thank you. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-234791 

 Closing remarks  

Thank you President, Honourable Members [of the European Parliament].  

The debate today testifies to our continued interest and engagement in EU-ASEAN relations. 

The upcoming [EU-ASEAN] Summit is a historic event. It is the result of years of work and EU commitment to further strengthening relations with this important multilateral partner. 

I would encourage you to continue to support these efforts through outreach and cooperation with your counterparts, and ASEAN parliamentarians in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). 

With regards to Global Gateway, we will announce substantial advancement in Global Gateway projects which ASEAN tomorrow, on the fringes of the Summit – all from the current financial perspective and all involving public funds from EU and Member States’ Development Banks. 

On the National Unity Government, we are reaching out to the national unity government at an increasingly high level. They are vital stakeholders in Myanmar’s future. We welcome the decision of ASEAN’s own Summit, in November, to officially engage [with] them as well. 

The European Union is a significant humanitarian donor in Myanmar, but it is true, the United Nations’ Humanitarian appeal is very underfunded. And we also continue to help the one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. 

With regards to the Summit and region-to-region relations, we agree on substantial language on the Indo-Pacific and South China Sea and we would be happy to cooperate more strongly with ASEAN within the United Nations, notably with Malaysia and Indonesia, currently members of the [UN] Human Rights’ Council. 

Thank you. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-234793