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The bilateral FTA between the EU and Malaysia which started in 2010, was
put on hold in April 2012 at Malaysia's request. The EU Commission stated
that it had already reached the half-way point of the FTA negotiations with
Malaysia, however, the most difficult issues remain unresolved. In 2016, a
stocktaking exercise took place to assess the prospect to resume negotiations.
In March 2017, representatives from the EU Commission and Malaysian
ministers agreed in principle to re-launch the negotiations in due course.
Conclusion and Current Challenges of EU-ASEAN Relations
At the EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting in Manila in August 2017, Federica
Mogherini, Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy stated: "We, Europeans, care about your countries, your
people: we have an interest in the security and development of your countries,
because these are essential to security and development all over the world"
(European External Action Service 2017).
In reality however, despite some occasional rhetoric such as the
abovementioned, ASEAN is still not judged as central to the EU’s interests.
Despite the paper of the European Commission from 2015 which intended to
create a strategic partnership between the EU and ASEAN, the EU foreign and
security policy considerations focus on its immediate neighbourhood, Russia
and the Middle East; Southeast Asia as a region continues to be neglected. In
Asia, only China is often regarded as relevant for the future of Europe. The
same holds true for the ASEAN member states. China is not only the most
important business partner but also generally seen as the greatest challenge for
the future. Europe is still considered an important trade partner, but is also
often more seen – with regard to the colonial period – as the past. The current
crises in Europe (Euro debt crisis, refugee and migration issue, Brexit, rise of
populism) led to internal discord amongst the Europeans and did not improve
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