EC–ASEAN Relations in the 1970s as an Origin of the European Union–Asia Relationship

Today, the relationship between EU and Asian countries is at a turning point. During the Cold War, there was quite a large gap in status between the EC and ASEAN. The EC was highly institutionalised and the most advanced regional organisation, while ASEAN was simply an association of developing countries. However, in the post-Cold War era, Asia has gained a more important status compared to Europe. A striking example is the establishment of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in 1996, where heads of states were treated as ‘equal partners’. This article addresses the following question as the main point of its research: Why and how did the EC establish institutional bonds with ASEAN countries? Despite this corpus of research, studies of the factors behind the EC’s shift towards institutionalised relationships with ASEAN have not examined the geopolitical interests at stake. This paper, thus, aims to give an overall picture of EC-ASEAN institutional relations in the 1970s, with particular attention to the global strategies of EC member states, based on a multi-archival approach. Thus, this paper analyses a neglected origin of the EU-Asia relationship.