Also, an Eminent Persons Group was tasked with exploring the applicability of the EU model to ASEAN in the run up to the drafting of the ASEAN Charter. Statements by ASEAN leaders in the run-up to the signing of the ASEAN Charter are in consonance with this stance. Former ASEAN Secretary-General Pitsuwan claimed that “the EU’s experience in regional integration is much more advanced, where ASEAN can learn from (sic)” (Pitsuwan, P. 2010). This view is shared even by some of the most critical figures of the political elite such as Thailand’s representative in the High Level Task Force in charge of drafting the Charter