Britain proposes new approach to ASEAN-EU free trade talks

SINGAPORE: ASEAN and the European Union should adopt a new approach in negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA) in an effort to speed up the talks, Britain’s trade minister said Wednesday.

The new approach means the EU can negotiate agreements with individual ASEAN states instead of talking to the 10-nation bloc as a single entity, British Minister for Trade and Investment Gareth Thomas said in an interview with AFP.

The bilateral FTAs can be developed into a regional agreement that will include more countries, said Thomas, who was in Singapore on the first leg of a Southeast Asian tour.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU agreed in May 2007 to launch negotiations for a regionwide free-trade accord.

But the talks have made little progress due to problems, including EU concerns over violations of human rights in ASEAN member Myanmar.

“A new approach to the ASEAN-EU FTA may be required,” Thomas said after talks with his Singaporean counterpart, Lim Hng Kiang.

“We may have to start a fast-track process... as a route to ultimately getting a regional agreement and Singapore is an obvious country to be part of that fast-track process.”

Thomas said he will bring up the proposal during a meeting of EU trade ministers in Brussels later this month but does not know how they will react. If they agree, the EU will formalise the approach, he said.

“I need to test the mood and talk to (European) Commission officials about it,” he added, referring to the EU’s executive arm.

He said the human rights situation in Myanmar, formerly called Burma, remains an issue of concern for the EU.

“There’s got to be change in Burma on human rights in particular. The Burmese authorities should be releasing Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said, referring to the detained pro-democracy icon.

“That’s why we need a new approach and be willing to look at doing a deal in the short term with a number of countries that are ready to move.”

Thomas said he discussed the possibility of an EU-Singapore free trade pact with Lim on Wednesday.

From Singapore, Thomas will visit other Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia and Vietnam in a bid to open up business opportunities for British firms. He will also visit Taiwan.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said last year that the FTA between the bloc and the EU was one of the most challenging to negotiate due to the complexity of the talks.

ASEAN, a market of 550 million people, has concluded free trade pacts with India, as well as with Australia and New Zealand. It has also inked free trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea.

An ASEAN-EU free-trade zone would cover nearly one billion people, making it one of the world’s largest.

Wednesday, AFP