Conclusion
35. Due to ASEAN’s political diversity and different economic conditions, national resilience and
non-interference will continue to stymie deeper integration as ASEAN governments jealously
guard their sovereignty. Given that ASEAN is made up of countries at very different levels of
development, an ASEAN community is unlikely to be achieved by 2020.110 The ASEAN
Charter is a good first step towards achieving the united ASEAN Community envisaged by its
leaders. It provides greater formal structure and organization to the grouping, which heretofore
has operated mainly through informal consensus. Imposing a definite legal structure, instituting
more formalized rules and roles and giving ASEAN an international legal personality may help
transform ASEAN from an informal forum into a true international organization like the EU.
Through the signing of the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN leaders are attempting to build an EUstyle
bloc, but without the existence of either a strong supranational executive, like that of the
European Commission, or a well-developed body of community law and dispute settlement, as
in the EU. Without those mechanisms, ASEAN’s plan for an EU-style deeper integration
seems impracticable.
36. In addition, the ASEAN members historically have been reluctant to encourage either,
stemming from a fear of impinging on ASEAN’s long-held principles of non-interference and
consensus. Failure to integrate ASEAN’s diverse situations means that the group will lose opportunities
to regional competitors. This tension between the need to integrate and the reluctance to
yield national sovereignty is therefore the main factor affecting the future implementation of the
ASEAN Charter. Compared with the EU’s developmental experiences, ASEAN’s endeavours
towards deeper integration seem both slower and weaker. Not only ASEAN Member States’
diverse background, but their reluctance to surrender some levels of sovereignty make
ASEAN’s goal for deeper integration a goal in name and form only. With ASEAN Member
States’ competitive positions, most of them tend to depend much more on exporting to North
America or Europe than to their neighbours. Regional integration has thus developed slowly.
109 Tan, above n.11.
110 Hew, above n.61.
Chinese JIL (2010)
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This article therefore argues that certain steps—including a supranational institution, a uniform
legal system and a review mechanism for dispute resolution—are necessary to achieve a thriving
EU-style bloc. The ASEAN Charter alone does not provide a sufficient framework. Simply
signing a joint agreement or diplomatic compromise is an insufficient measure to achieve the
goal of better and deeper integration. On the other hand, whether moving in the direction of
deeper integration stands for a better future or more efficient system within regional membership
remains a question.
37. Even after the ASEAN Charter, the ASEAN leaders still stress the principles of “mutual
respect” and “non-interference”. It thus seems very unlikely that ASEAN leaders will surrender
their national sovereignty and follow EU-style integration. However, despite the use of the
EU’s experiences to draft the ASEAN Charter, some scholars have argued that historical differences
between the two regions constitute the major reason that ASEAN’s comparison with the
EU is neither useful nor productive.111 They also argue that the promotion of the EU experience
as model or paradigm is far from analytically helpful.112 Still, the author believes that even though
the EU’s developmental experiences may not fit ASEAN’s demands in every respect, some key
points such as legal personality under international law, regional identity as well as independent
institutions and legislations are worth learning from. With internal competition, economic con-
flicts and even outside challenges, a positive future of deeper integration for ASEAN is questionable.
However, even though a deeper integration is necessary to face global challenges, scholars
have pointed out that deeper integration does not mean better or more efficient integration.113
In addition, in forming a regional integration and not only a geographic situation, cultural heritage,
common language and similar economic and security problems all play a crucial role.114
Considering ASEAN’s complicated situation, the author therefore suggests that at some point
the ASEAN membership is going to have to take the leap of faith to cede the sovereignty to
which it so steadfastly clings in order to achieve similar EU-style integration or it will miss the
opportunity to be on the leading edge of twenty-first century economic and political development
and leadership