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v) a reference to the desirability of exchanges of Ministerial visits. In the case of outward visits Ministers might speak for the Community as a whole as had been the practice in the past.
The report should also refer non-commitally to the possibility of a message being sent on behalf of the Community to the ASEAN Summit expected to be held next year.
2.
In discussion of these recommendations Mr Hansen (Commission)
said that ASEAN would welcome a greater EEC role in the region to create a balance in her relations. The US did not have a good name in the area and younger people disliked Japan's influence. Mr Hansen outlined the events leading up to the Joint Study Group which had held its first meeting on 26/27 June this year. He said that the role of the Commission in the Group was to act as a broker between interested parties in industry in ASEAN and EEC countries. Some Community funds were also being used to finance certain feasibility studies. The next Joint Study meeting would be held in 1976 in Manila. The Commission regarded ASEAN as a moderate block in the group of 77 which in the past had been helpful to the Community. Mr Hansen stressed that there were nevertheless dangers
in meetings between the Nine and ASEAN in ASEAN countries and he reminded the Group that ASEAN states were "competitors" rather than "cooperators".
3. M. Ala (France) said that the Nine should try to give substance to the political dialogue with ASEAN. Although we should not be under any illusions about our capacity to influence events in South East Asia, we ought to make our presence felt and encourage positive developments. M. Ala proposed that a message should be sent to the ASEAN Summit but this idea found little favour with other delegates. 4. M. Klaus (Netherlands) sounded a note of caution which was
echoed by several other delegations. He said that Dutch Embassies in ASEAN countries had pointed out that ASEAN was not a stable structure. It was preoccupied with the problem of subversion and economic and social development with particular emphasis on backward groups which was seen as the only real safeguard against this. Cooperation with the Community would be judged in this context. The EEC's freedom of movement was also limited by the fact that ASEAN
sought non-aligned status. There was danger in any development which
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/which put