WE, the Heads of
State/Government of the Member Countries of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU),
gathered in Singapore on 22 November 2007 for the occasion of the
ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit;
BUILDING on the momentum of the
30th anniversary of ASEAN-EU relations, the 40th anniversary of the
establishment of ASEAN and the 50th anniversary of the signing of
the Rome Treaties to promote sustainable peace, security and
prosperity through regional integration;
RECALLING the establishment of
official relations between the EU's Permanent Representatives
Committee (COREPER) and ASEAN in Brussels in February 1977, the
Cooperation Agreement between Member Countries of ASEAN and European
Community signed on 7 March 1980, the ASEAN-EU Joint Declaration on
Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism endorsed on 27 January
2003 and the Nuremberg Declaration on an EU-ASEAN Enhanced
Partnership endorsed on 15 March 2007;
NOTING with deep satisfaction
that, over thirty years, ASEAN-EU relations have grown and expanded
to cover a wide range of areas including political and security,
economic and trade, social and cultural and development cooperation;
DETERMINED to deepen and broaden
our cooperation, based on mutual trust and respect, with the ASEAN-EU
Enhanced Partnership as a strong foundation for our relations and
cooperation to ensure peace, stability, progress and prosperity in
the region;
COMMENDING the adoption of the
ASEAN Charter which marks a new level in ASEAN regional integration
and sets a firm basis for its further community building;
EXPRESSING support for the
realisation of the ASEAN Community by 2015;
WELCOMING the adoption of the
ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism at the 12th ASEAN Summit in
Cebu, the Philippines;
ACKNOWLEDGING ASEAN's centrality
and the leading role played by ASEAN in all ASEAN-related regional
architecture, in particular the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) as the
main forum for regional dialogue and political and security
cooperation in the Asia Pacific;
FURTHER acknowledging the
importance of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia
(TAC) as a milestone in the regional code of conduct for inter-state
relations and promoting regional peace and stability;
RECOGNISING the need to
strengthen the promotion and the protection of human rights through
practical steps and closer cooperation, including in international
fora;
RENEWING our commitment to
actively cooperate in addressing major global and transboundary
problems such as climate change and its impact on socio-economic
development and the environment, particularly in developing
countries, as presented by the Fourth Assessment Report from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
RECOGNISING the need for all
countries to participate in developing an effective, comprehensive,
and equitable post-2012 international climate change arrangement,
and in this regard, welcome Indonesia’s efforts to host the 13th
Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 3rd Session
of the Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of the
Parties to the Kyoto Protocol;
ACKNOWLEDGING that all countries
have common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities in addressing the common challenge of climate change,
and that developed countries should continue to play a leadership
role in substantially reducing global emission of greenhouse gases
and that developing countries should also play their part, supported
by developed countries through positive incentives, including
through a strengthened global carbon market;
NOTING the role of forests in mitigating and
adapting to climate change, preserving biodiversity and sustaining
the livelihoods of forest communities; and
AFFIRMING the need to take an effective approach
to address interrelated challenges of climate change, energy
security and other environmental issues, in the context of
sustainable development.
HEREBY DECLARE TO:
1. Commit to further enhance ASEAN-EU dialogue and cooperation and
welcome the "ASEAN-EU Plan of Action to Implement the Nuremberg
Declaration on an EU-ASEAN Enhanced Partnership" annexed herewith;
2. Continue ASEAN-EU dialogue and close
coordination on regional and international issues so as to
contribute to the maintenance of peace, security and prosperity;
3. Strengthen political dialogue between ASEAN
and the EU as well as regional and political dialogue through the
ARF for advancing the common interest of ASEAN and the EU in
promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific
region, with ASEAN as the driving force;
4. Welcome the intention of the EU/EC to accede
to the TAC;
5. Support the implementation of the UN Global
Counter Terrorism Strategy, an early conclusion of a UN
Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, the ASEAN
Convention on Counter Terrorism, and the implementation of the
ASEAN-EU Joint Declaration on Cooperation to Combat International
Terrorism;
6. Explore cooperation to promote disarmament and
non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of
delivery, as these represent serious threats to peace and security,
according to the existing disarmament and non-proliferation
conventions, treaties and instruments;
7. Enhance cooperation to support ASEAN’s efforts
in its community building through effective implementation of the
Vientiane Action Programme;
8. Support the Initiative for ASEAN Integration
(IAI) and other sub-regional endeavours to narrow the development
gaps in ASEAN, as contributing to regional integration, through the
EU’s ongoing bilateral programmes with ASEAN countries;
9. In light of the recent events in Myanmar, the
ASEAN and the EU actively support the good offices mission of the UN
Secretary General and the efforts of the Secretary General's Special
Advisor Ibrahim Gambari to bring about an inclusive and
comprehensive process of genuine national reconciliation and
peaceful transition to democracy;
10. Call for the release of political detainees
in Myanmar, including those recently detained, and the early lifting
of restrictions placed on political parties;
11. Welcome the decision of the Government of Myanmar to step up its
engagement with the UN and to enter into a dialogue with Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, recalling that such a dialogue should be conducted with
all concerned parties and ethnic groups;
12. Reaffirm the willingness of ASEAN and the EU
to help address the humanitarian needs of the people of Myanmar and
to respond constructively to political transformation and reform,
including Myanmar’s long-term development needs;
13. Enhance economic relations by expeditiously
negotiating the ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement based on a
region-to-region approach, mindful of the different levels of
development and capacity of individual ASEAN countries, providing
for comprehensive trade and investment liberalisation and
facilitation;
14. Agree to work closely to ensure an ambitious,
balanced and comprehensive conclusion of the Doha Development
Agenda, as priority for both ASEAN and the EU;
15. Intensify the implementation of the
activities agreed under the Trans-Regional EU-ASEAN Trade Initiative
(TREATI) and the Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (READI) in
order to promote and broaden cooperation and relations between ASEAN
and the EU in both trade and non-trade areas;
16. Enhance cooperation on Intellectual Property
Rights in the fields of legislation, enforcement, and capacity
building to build and strengthen awareness on intellectual property;
17. Commit to act with resolve to meet the
interrelated multiple goals of addressing climate change, reducing
air pollution and improving the global environment while
contributing to sustainable development and improving energy
security;
18. Commit to the common long-term goal of
mitigating global emissions of greenhouse gases, so as to stabilise
atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations in the long run, at a
level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with
the climate system;
19. Strengthen cooperation to address the
critical issue of climate change in accordance with the UNFCCC and
the Kyoto Protocol, with particular emphasis on promoting energy
efficiency and the use of cleaner and sustainable renewable energy,
as well as promoting afforestation and reforestation and reducing
deforestation, forest degradation and forest fires, and combating
illegal logging and its associated trade; and in this regard,
acknowledge sub-regional conservation initiatives such as the Heart
of Borneo conservation plan and the Greater Mekong Programme and
look forward to continuing the EC-ASEAN READI Dialogue on Climate
Change;
20. Promote cooperation on the sustainable
management and use of our biodiversity including forest, coastal and
marine ecosystems and environments and other natural resources,
taking into account the Convention on Biological Diversity to
significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010; and
support the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, as a regional centre for
biodiversity conservation and management, noting the importance of
various regional and international initiatives such as the Forestry
Eleven Forum and Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries
and Food Security;
21. Promote energy security, sustainable energy
and multilateral measures for stable, effective and transparent
global energy markets, through an ASEAN-EU policy dialogue on energy
as well as through other regional fora such as the ARF, where
appropriate;
22. Strengthen cooperation at the national,
regional and international level to mobilise financial resources and
to attract public and private finance for the deployment of
technologies for clean and environmentally friendly energy
investment;
23. Enhance cooperation in promoting the use of
renewable and alternative energy sources such as solar, hydro, wind,
tide, biomass, sustainable biofuels and geothermal energy, as well
as, for interested parties, civilian nuclear energy; while giving
careful and due regard to ensuring safety and security standards and
exploring cooperation in this area;
24. Intensify cooperation in promoting, sharing
and implementing environmentally sustainable practices, including
the transfer of environmentally-sound technologies, the enhancement
of human and institutional capacities and the promotion of
sustainable production and consumption patterns; and in this regard,
consider regional cooperation under the international Marrakesh
Process on sustainable consumption and production (SCP);
25. Step up dialogue and cooperation at regional
and global levels on disaster management including in the areas of
preparedness, mitigation and emergency response as well as
rehabilitation and reconstruction, and consider support for the
implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and
Emergency Response;
26. Enhance cooperation in public health to
address the threats of emerging infectious diseases such as avian
influenza;
27. Strengthen our socio-cultural cooperation by
encouraging greater interaction among our peoples, in particular
youth, academics, media personnel and civil society, and by
cooperating with the ASEAN Foundation in promoting public awareness
on ASEAN-EU Dialogue Relations; and
28. Identify possible ways and mechanisms to
cooperate to ensure the promotion and protection of the rights and
welfare of migrant workers.
Adopted in Singapore on the Twenty-Second Day of
November in the Year Two Thousand and Seven.