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.