There is a fundamental difference between ASEAN aiming to become the next EU and ASEAN moving towards the direction of EU. While the first suggests a goal of replication of EU into Southeast Asian context, the later suggests a borrowing of concepts to be contextualized. In this section, both questions would be answered collectively. Before examining if ASEAN would move towards EU, we must first compare and contrast ASEAN and EU. In brief, EU is in a level of supra-national co-operation while ASEAN is in a level of inter-national co-operation. This fundamental difference is the net result of the various differences present in the various levels of comparison between the two organizations.
The aims of ASEAN and EU are almost identical, or at least comparable and there is hope for peace and security, the safeguarding of national independence against interference from external actors, the quest for economic prosperity and social security, and more and more the preservation of the national competitiveness in the age of globalisation