BRUSSELS, July 7: The European Union is ready to negotiate a free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after the current round of WTO-led talks, the European Commission said on Monday.

The EU’s executive arm will this week formally agree a document setting out a strategy for relations between the EU — currently 15 members, expanding to 25 next year — and the 10-member ASEAN.

The commission is notably proposing a regional trade action plan, called the trans-regional EU-ASEAN trade initiative, said spokesman Reijo Kempinnen ahead of the weekly commission meeting on Wednesday.

“If successfully implemented it would permit us to give serious consideration to entering into a free trade agreement once the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations is successfully completed,” he added.

The Doha development agenda, launched with great fanfare in the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001, aims to establish a more equitable approach to international trade for developing countries.

The European Commission added that the EU was also ready to sign bilateral agreements with ASEAN states “to deepen cooperation” on issues like human rights, good governance, justice and home affairs, and fighting terrorism.

The idea of an EU-ASEAN free trade area was raised by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder during a visit to Singapore in May.

An enlarged EU plus the 10 ASEAN states will comprise more than one billion people and account for almost half of world trade, the German leader said.

“We are thinking of more than just the reciprocal abolition of customs duties. We are thinking of common technical standards, the liberalization of services and the setting of clear rules for investment,” he said.—AFP