'In 2012, Asean urged it was time to conclude a Strategic Partnership – I agreed and lobbied hard for it – but senior EU officials, including Catherine Ashton (pictured) the EU foreign policy chief at the time, was not a big supporter of the idea' (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

The EU-Asean dance: an EU diplomat's account

EU & the World

Green Economy

Opinion

by Jan Willem Blankert, Brussels,

The EU-Asean Strategic Partnership announced on 1 December by the two organisations' foreign ministers could have been signed several years ago.

Although it is late, the decision is still important and very welcome.

An important milestone was 2008 when Asean adopted its charter which gave the organisation a legal personality, a stronger institutional framework and, abo...

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EU & the World Green Economy Opinion

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Jan Willem Blankert is an economist and a veteran of economic and political reform and integration. As an EU official he served in postings in Eastern Europe, the Balkan and Asia. He is the author of China rising, will the West be able to cope?.