Asean and the European Community: Perspective and Prospects

Abstract

The German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher is recognised as a champion of the Third World in general and of the ASEAN-EC relationship in particular. The abbreviation EC for European Community instead of EEC for European Economic Community is deliberately used. First, the ASEAN-EC relationship has gone far beyond the purely economic. There is a very strong political dimension. Second, the economic relationship is handled by the ASEAN ambassadors in Brussels who deal with the European Commission which has, for example, competence over trade matters for the Ten members of the EC. But the ASEAN Ambassadors in the other countries deal with other matters as well.