BRUSSELS, 28 February – The first meeting between the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU Committee of Permanent Representatives took place yesterday in Brussels.

The encounter is part of a commitment to bring cooperation between ASEAN and the EU to a higher level as set out in the action plan to strengthen the ASEAN-EU enhanced partnership (2013-2017).

Ambassadors of the Member States of both regional organisations took stock of ongoing ASEAN-EU cooperation and discussed priorities for future work. They exchanged lessons learned on successes and challenges in the respective regional integration processes.

As set out in the action plan, ASEAN-EU cooperation currently focuses on peace and security cooperation, economic and trade links, socio-cultural cooperation as well as institutional support to ASEAN.

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For more information, see factsheet EU-ASEAN cooperation, 20 facts and figures on the EU-ASEAN relation as well as EU-ASEAN plan of action 2013-2017.