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Library guide to EU-ASEAN relations
- 22 November 2022
- gsclibrary
Asia Foreign affairs & international relations
A European Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit will take place in Brussels on 14 December 2022. For the first time, it will bring together the heads of state or government of the 27 EU countries and of ASEAN member states.
On account of this, the Council Library has compiled a guide to authoritative resources on EU-ASEAN relations.
The library guide serves as an overview of available resources for anyone looking to broaden their understanding of EU-ASEAN relations. In it you will find a selection of books and articles, databases and websites, podcasts, videos and EU publications.
What is ASEAN?
ASEAN is an intergovernmental organisation bringing together ten Southeast Asian states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).
ASEAN aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its members. Its biggest success in recent years has been in promoting economic integration among members. It also helped negotiate the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free trade agreement.
Its motto ('One Vision, One Identity, One Community') and anthem ('The ASEAN Way') epitomise the organisation’s aim for integration among the member states.
EU-ASEAN relations
This year is the 45th anniversary of the European Economic Community establishing formal relations with ASEAN. The EU and ASEAN have been dialogue partners since 1977.
Following the 23rd EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting on 1 December 2020, the EU and ASEAN opened a new chapter in their longstanding relationship by becoming strategic partners.
EU-ASEAN cooperation is aligned with the three pillars of the ASEAN community: political and security cooperation, economic cooperation and socio-cultural cooperation.
This post does not necessarily represent the positions, policies or opinions of the Council of the European Union or the European Council.
The Council Library reading room is open on Monday to Friday from 12
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Cohesion policy: Council approves conclusions taking stock of implementation and outlining the way forward
The Council today approved conclusions on cohesion policy, providing a general assessment of its role in fostering regional development in the EU, as well as the main implementation challenges and the way forward for the future.
In its conclusions, the Council recalls that the objective of social, economic and territorial cohesion is at the heart of the European project. It also stresses the importance of protecting the financial interests of the EU.
The added value of cohesion policy
The Council stresses that cohesion policy is agile, modern and long-term, and has an important leverage effect, generating an estimated €2.7 of additional GDP at the EU level for each €1 spent. It improves the quality of EU citizens’ lives and supports the transition towards a climate-neutral, circular, green and digital economy, while ensuring a balanced internal market and increasing the competitiveness of the EU on a global scale.
The Council also points to the positive impacts of the shared management mode for its implementation, which contributes to proper engagement at the regional and local levels, a better public administration and the linking of bottom-up programming with new global trends.
2014-2020 programming period
Regarding the 2014-2020 programming period, the Council stresses the need to focus on the effective closure of the programmes and calls for efforts from all those involved to widely disseminate the results and benefits of cohesion policy to the public.
Cohesion policy and recent crises
Noting that cohesion policy has helped to mitigate the effects of the recent crises, the Council considers that the policy should be able to adapt to new developments without compromising its structural and long-term objectives. The Commission is called upon to closely monitor the economic and social effects of Russia's war in Ukraine and to explore further measures to ensure successful implementation of cohesion policy programmes, if necessary.
2021-2027 programming period
The Council also welcomes the fact that the 2021-2027 legislative framework provides for simpler and more flexible implementation rules, and sets out its assessment of some of its key elements. Member states and the Commission are called upon to ensure a speedy start to the implementation of the 2021-2027 programmes.
In the context of implementation, the conclusions stress the importance of preventing and combating fraud and corruption. The Commission is called upon to continuously substantiate the impact of cohesion policy, determine its impact and analyse its multiple results.
Territorial aspect of cohesion policy
Regarding the territorial aspect of cohesion policy, the Council stresses the importance of taking into account the specificities of regions, paying special attention to the regions suffering from various structural or permanent imbalances. Member states and the Commission are called upon to ensure a timely implementation of the Just Transition Fund, which enables regions to address the socio-economic impacts of the EU's green transition.
Cohesion policy post-2027
In its conclusions, the Council also provides some guidelines for cohesion policy post-2027, stressing the need to continue strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the coming years. It stresses that cohesion policy is a policy for all regions.
When preparing the next legislative framework, the Commission is called upon to explore opportunities presented by performance-based reimbursement and make maximum use of it, to continue efforts to simplify the rules and harmonise them across EU programmes, and to evaluate the existing EU policy instruments before introducing new ones to avoid overlaps between them.
The Council also stresses the importance of focusing on the objective of sustainable development of the EU and its regions in the next programming period, as well as addressing the specificities of regions, in particular regions in a development trap and regions on the external EU border, as well as outermost regions and regions facing various demographic challenges.Council conclusions on cohesion policy
Cohesion in Europe towards 2050: Council approves conclusions (press release, 2 June 2022)
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General Affairs Council (Cohesion), 22 November 2022
Main results
Long-term impacts of cohesion policy on EU regions
The Council discussed the role of cohesion policy as a key lever to promote long-term convergence within the EU and reduce disparities in the level of development of the various regions.
Ministers welcomed the contribution of cohesion policy to closing the gap between less and more developed regions and member states over the past decades, and noted its positive impact also beyond the regions that benefit the most from the EU programmes.
They stressed that cohesion policy is a modern and flexible investment tool helping regions across the EU to work towards shared long-term goals, while addressing more immediate challenges on the ground, as needed.
During the debate, ministers also outlined their views on various issues, such as the key goals and principles of cohesion policy to be safeguarded for the future, the challenges that the policy will face and how to best address them. Ministers also touched upon the added value of cohesion policy compared to other EU policies and instruments, and underlined the need to create more synergies between the various instruments to better deliver on the key objectives of cohesion policy.
Among other things, they stressed that cohesion policy should be able to rest on a robust and effective policy mix of national and EU policies and instruments to help regions to tackle the various challenges stemming from demographic and technological changes and the digital and green transitions, ensuring that no region is left behind.
Cohesion policy is a powerful and dynamic European investment tool helping member states and their regions to develop. It has been able to respond flexibly to the recent crises, but its true strength lies in long term transformation, driven at the local level. We need to ensure that the policy remains fit-for-purpose also in the future, helping the EU's regions to effectively address the various challenges they are facing, such as demographic changes and the green and digital transitions.Ivan Bartoš, Czech Deputy Prime Minister for Digitisation and Minister of Regional DevelopmentBackground note for the debate
Council conclusions on cohesion policy
The Council approved conclusions on cohesion policy, providing a general assessment of its role in fostering regional development in the EU, as well as the main implementation strengths and challenges and a possible outlook for the future.
The conclusions cover different aspects of cohesion policy, including its added value, its role in addressing the recent crises, territorial elements, and the future of the policy post-2027. Key benefits of the policy are highlighted, such as the fact that each €1 spent generates an estimated €2.7 of additional GDP at EU level. The Council also proposes areas for further improvement, such as simplifying and harmonising the rules, preventing an overlap with other EU programmes, and the need to consider the specificities of each region.Cohesion policy: Council approves conclusions taking stock of implementation and outlining the way forward (press release, 22 November 2022)
EU budget 2023
As an item without discussion, the Council formally adopted the EU budget for 2023 which it had agreed in negotiations with the European Parliament on 14 November. Total commitments are set at €186.6 billion. This is an increase of 1.1% compared to the 2022 budget as amended. €0.4 billion has been kept available under the expenditure ceilings of the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027, allowing the EU to react to unforeseeable needs. Total payments amount to €168.6 billion, rising 1% from 2022.Council gives go-ahead to EU budget for 2023 (press release, 22 November 2022)
Meeting information
Meeting n°3910
Brussels
22 November 2022
Preparatory documentsProvisional agenda
List of A items, legislative deliberations
Background brief
Outcome documentsList of participants
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