RECEIVED IN
REGISTRY NO. 51
- 6 NOV 1975
wek18/25
CONFIDENTIAL
ASIA WORKING GROUP, ROME 28 OCTOBER 1975
I Relations with ASEAN
Ли. Разбий
Dr. X
Vietnamese
хорхое -р-г.
Drui
Blu
1. The group agreed that prior to the next meeting the Presidency should draft a paper making recommendations to the Political Directors on ways of intensifying the Community's relations with ASEAN. The report would be circulated by COREU telegram and a text would be finalised at the next meeting, provisionally fixed for 4 December. Foints to be included in the paper were: i) a reference to the point in the Political Directors' mandate on the intensification of contacts in New York between EEC representatives and the ASEAN group, particularly over major world economic problems (although these contacts were not to be in any way institutionalised). The report would recommend that EEC representatives in New York should be asked to submit more detailed recommendations.
ii) a reference to contacts between the Nine and the proposed ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. On these occasions the Nine would be represented by the Presidency. (The Commision offered to advise on the desirability of these contacts. As this suggestion was not taken up by members of the group, Mr Male agreed informally with Mr Hansen, the Commission Representative, that we would feed in the Commission's views).
iii) a reference to contacts with ASEAN ambassadors in EEC countries. These contacts could either be through the Presidency or, in those countries where all ASEAN ambassadors were not represented, thragh an ambassador of the Presidency country, in an appropriate capital. (The Commission emphasised in discussion the importance of not duplicating contacts between ASEAN representatives and the Commission and Permanent Representatives in Brussels.)
iv) a reference to occasional contacts between ASEAN ambassadors and individual members of the Nine on questions particularly concerning the latter (eg in the French case, the consumer-producer dialogue). (Herr Steger (FRG) said that from a trial run in Bonn he had the impression that ASEAN ambassadors liked to be summoned collectively).
CONFIDENTIAL