CIIR's Research and Advocacy Officer for South East Asia, Dr Fernando Aldaba, calls for civil society voices to be consulted at the forthcoming Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM), Copenhagen 23rd - 24th September.

On September 23-24, the fourth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Leaders and top officials of various ministries of twenty-five countries from the two regions will discuss wide ranging issues from economic to political including security concerns (i.e anti-terrorism campaign by the U.S.). ASEM finds its roots from a July 1994 document entitled "Towards a New Strategy for Asia" wherein the European Commission outlined its strategic perspective on East Asia. This document emphasized the importance of modernizing the relationship with Asia based on a new understanding of its political, economic and cultural significance amidst increased "globalisation". In November 1994, Singapore also proposed that a European Union-Asia summit meeting be held to explore this new kind of partnership between the two regions.

Thus the origin of the ASEM process was founded in a mutual recognition that the relationship between the two regions needed to be renewed and to be reflective of the new global context of the 1990s and the perspectives of the new century. For the Asian economies, this was a mechanism to officially engage Europe which was inevitably on its way to becoming a "fortress" while Europe did not want to lose out to the Americas (which initiated the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) in terms of relating with dynamic Asia. Both regions also want to transcend the typical "trade and aid" relationship of the previous decades towards more sustained development in both regions. Following on this proposal, various ASEM Summits were held every two years, the first in Bangkok (March 1996) then in London (April 1998) and finally in Seoul (October 2000).

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has evolved over the past six years as an important avenue for the EU member countries and East and Southeast Asian countries to discuss and resolve key and strategic issues affecting the relationship between the two regions and their relations to the entire world. While it has explored the various facets of the relations particularly in the economic, political and cultural spheres, ASEM has focused mostly on the economic components, which include trade, investments and private sector ventures. In fact definite plans and programmes are already being implemented on these areas particularly the Trade and Investment Facilitation Plans. Civil society organisations have criticised these with much basis as part and parcel of the "economic globalisation" agenda of the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund.

Non-government organisations (NGOs) from both Asia and Europe have ingeniously established a parallel unofficial mechanism but seemingly recognized by the ASEM processes. This venue called the Asia-Europe People's Forum (AEPF) has not only raised the key sustainable and human development issues but also proposed concrete recommendations to the ASEM. In particular, the AEPF has proposed the holding of a regular Social Forum where such issues will be officially tackled and responded to by the governments involved. An AEPF strategic document "Proposal for a Social Forum" was widely consulted across the network and was presented to the ASEM Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in July 2000 and to the ASEM Summit in Seoul in October. However, this proposal has yet to be tackled officially in the Meeting and the AEPF continues to wait for the appropriate response from the concerned authorities.

The Social Dimension of the Forum must be viewed as an important third pillar of ASEM - as relevant as the economic and political pillars. Given today's context where increased globalisation has unevenly affected the various countries of the world, discussion of social concerns and issues like unemployment, underemployment, poverty, social protection, etc. is deemed inevitable and paramount. At the same time, it is also very difficult to delink the social dimension from the economic and the political spheres since all three are important ingredients for sustainable growth and development in the countries of Asia and Europe. The social dimension has also been the primary concern of various civil society actors in both regions particularly the non-government organisations, community groups and trade unions. Thus, the call by the Asia Europe People's Forum and the International Confederation of Trade Unions for a Social Forum to be officially part of the ASEM process grows out from the original objectives of the Meeting.

Therefore, governments, the private sector, and civil society groups in both regions must support this clamor for inclusion of the social and human face to ASEM. The addition of this dimension will make Asia-Europe relations more relevant and possible more beneficial to the majority of its citizens and constituents. The fourth Asia Europe People's Forum (ASEM4people), the venue for which civil society will once again call for the inclusion of a Social Dimension in ASEM will be held on September 19-22, 2002 in Copenhagen. Further discussions and consultations on the Social Forum will be held to fortify this advocacy for a third pillar. It is hoped that the official ASEM IV process would finally heed this call of more than a thousand NGOs in Asia and Europe representing organised civil society in the two regions.

To read CIIR's full briefing paper, The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM): Europe's Dynamic Links with Asia click here Asem doc (288 KB) or Asem pdf (347 KB).

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Matthew Heard
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