Deal on Burmese involvement finally allows EU-ASEAN meeting to go ahead

Date: 20/05/1999

By Gareth Harding

THE first high-level meeting between the EU and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for more than two years is set to take place next week following an agreement between the two blocs on how to involve Burma in the talks.

Burma, renamed Myanmar by the ruling military junta, has been a thorn in the side of EU-ASEAN relations ever since the country joined the nine-member regional club in 1997. The Union has slapped sanctions on the country because of the regime's appalling human rights record and ministerial meetings have repeatedly been postponed because of the EU's refusal to sit at the same negotiating table with Burmese representatives.

After months of tortuous negotiations, the two sides have come up with a face-saving formula which will allow Rangoon, along with new members Cambodia and Laos, to attend the talks but forbid Burmese officials from flying their flag or speaking in debates.

The EU-ASEAN joint cooperation committee, which brings together high-ranking officials from both sides, is due to discuss ways of dragging the south-east Asian club out of its current economic crisis at the three-day meeting in Bangkok which begins next Tuesday (25 May).

The Union will also propose setting up a working group on market access aimed at resolving trade disputes bilaterally rather than taking them to the World Trade Organisation.

A European Commission spokesman said that the EU would "like to improve its relations with ASEAN, but always faces problems with Burma".

Last month, Union foreign ministers extended sanctions against the former British colony and warned that they would "consider further restrictive measures in the light of the worsening human rights situation in the country".