The EU and ASEAN enjoy robust commercial relations. The EU is ASEAN's third largest trading partner, while ASEAN is the EU's 5th largest trading partner. Total trade in 2011 in goods and services amounted to $265 billion. ASEAN had a surplus of $25 billion in its trade with the EU. The EU is the biggest provider of Foreign Direct Investment into ASEAN, 24% of the total.[3]
Trade has increased significantly over the past decades. EU exports to ASEAN were estimated at €45.7 billion in 1997, up from €8.9 billion in 1987. EU imports from ASEAN were valued at €10 billion in 1987 and had already surged to €46 billion by 1997.[4] The structure of EU-ASEAN trade has undergone significant changes. In the past, EU exports to ASEAN have included a higher percentage of manufactured products. As ASEAN transforms from a commodity-producing region to a supplier of manufactured goods, there has been a dramatic shift in ASEAN's exports to the EU from primary products to manufactures. Hence, ASEAN's exports consisted mostly of raw materials such as wood, manioc, rubber and palm oil. Today, electronic equipment, textiles and clothing account for a larger share of exports.[5] Trade in services between the two regions has also grown in recent years.
In order to further improve trade between the two regions and to speed up ASEAN's economic integration, there is a regular dialogue at Ministerial level and ASEAN-EU Business Summits are held on a regular basis. The first ASEAN-EU Business Summit was organised in Jakarta in May 2011, followed by a second Business Summit in April 2012 in Phnom Penh and third one in Ha Noi in March 2013. These meetings of business leaders, including small and medium-sized enterprises, with ASEAN Trade Ministers and the EU Trade Commissioner generate a host of recommendations for both parties to facilitate trade.[6]
In 2007 the Council authorized the Commission to start negotiating an FTA with ASEAN. FTA negotiations were launched at the ASEAN-EU Economic Ministers (AEM) Consultations held in Brunei Darussalam in the same year. However, trade talks were moving relatively slowly and eventually ground to a halt in 2009. The failed ASEAN-EU FTA paved the way for bilateral FTAs and negotiating Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCA) with individual ASEAN member states. The EU has concluded a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore in 2012 and is negotiating FTAs with several other ASEAN countries (Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia). With Malaysia negotiations are well advanced. These agreements are stepping stones to an overarching region-to-region agreement between the EU and ASEAN.[7]