4. The EU and Democracy Building in South East Asia:
Towards a Realistic Approach
Informal relations between ASEAN and the EU, which was then the European
Economic Community (EEC), date back to 1972. An ASEAN-EEC Joint Study Group
was formed in May 1975 to explore areas of cooperation. The relationship was formalized
in 1977, and the two organizations have held ministerial meetings since 1978. The
EEC-ASEAN Cooperation Agreement was signed in March 1980, at the Second
ASEAN-EEC Ministerial Meeting (AEMM). Both sides agreed that commercial,
economic and technical cooperation should be the focus of the relationship. Any
reference to political cooperation, let alone cooperation on democracy building,
was conspicuously absent. During these early years of the relationship, ASEAN-EU
cooperation focused primarily on economic and development issues