Strengthening EU-ASEAN cooperation

Many of the challenges faced by nation states today cannot be solved in isolation; but need international cooperation. That is one reason why structures such as the UN, the EU and ASEAN have developed over the past 70 years. The Philippines has of course been with the UN from its very start, and is also a founding member of ASEAN. 

ASEAN dates back to 1967, and thus commemorates its 50th year anniversary this year. Very timely, the Philippines will be the Chair of ASEAN in 2017, and will thus be at the forefront of the celebrations. EU-ASEAN relations date back to 1977 – to be precise to the first week of July, when, in 1977, ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed to establish formal links – which means that we this year are also looking forward to commemorating 40 years of expanding and deepening cooperation between ASEAN and the EU. We are now preparing to sit down with our Philippine counterparts to discuss how we, the European Union, one of the Dialogue Partners of ASEAN, best can contribute to make the celebratory chairmanship of the Philippines a successful one – and how our joint aspirations and ambitions can be moved forward.   

Under the Philippine chairmanship, a large number of celebratory events, ranging from various popular competitions such as photo competitions, exhibitions, concerts to events of a more serious nature such as conferences and seminars will be arranged.

An ASEAN chairmanship is also marked by a series of high level meetings, the various ‘Summits’. The first of those in the calendar is the EU-ASEAN Business Summit, which will be held in March in Manila. This event will bring leading trade officials from ASEAN and the Dialogue Partners and a large number of business people together. The meeting will provide a great opportunity to hear more about the economic programs of ASEAN and the EU as well of that of individual Member States in both regions, and to see where common ground can be found.

However, most of the work between ASEAN and the EU takes place not at high level meetings, but in the background, much of it is low key technical work, the kind of work that is needed for a relationship to develop, but work that does not often appear in the headlines of newspapers, exactly because it is not breaking news, but rather ongoing work to create societies in ASEAN and in the EU, building on the strength of each of us.

One part of this work was just concluded this week, when the EU and ASEAN signed an agreement according to which the EU will grant 10 million euro to protect the rich ASEAN biodiversity. Much of this work will be concentrated in the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity in Los Banos, which was established in 1999 with support from the EU (which in 2004 became a permanent institution and regional centre of excellence to collectively support biodiversity related policy, strategy and action). 

ASEAN occupies just three percent of the earth’s surface, but is home to key major eco-systems and an astonishing 18 percent of all living species. The Philippines in particular is home to an extremely rich diversity of species, and it is therefore not surprising that the activities will be centered around Los Banos. I was there earlier this year, and was surprised to experience how different the world is there, so close to Manila, but also so a world apart from the bustling city.

Protection of biodiversity is just one example of how we face common challenges. Species (other than humans) do not carry passports, and they do not respect borders. So actions to protect our shared biodiversity almost always require international cooperation. The main objective of the “Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in ASEAN,” as the project is called, is to contribute to overall global sustainability by helping to ensure that ASEAN’s rich biological diversity is conserved and sustainably managed. The objective is also to enhance the conservation of biodiversity and the effective management of already protected areas in Southeast Asia, in order to further reduce biodiversity loss.

The EU is happy to lend ASEAN a hand in this effort to protect its biodiversity heritage, not only for ASEAN and the EU, but also for the generations to come.