ABSTRACT
The EU's economic relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is unique among those studied over the next five chapters in that it represents an inter-regional relationship. Although ASEAN has not developed to the same level of integration as the EU, it has been arguably the most successful and enduring regional integration arrangement (RIA) that has emerged from the developing world. This group-to-group relationship is one of the EU's most established in East Asia. It is made further distinct by the ex-colonial ties between European and Southeast Asian countries. Thus, the development of their more recent economic relations can to some extent be viewed in a post-colonial context. We shall also show how during the 1990s the EU-ASEAN economic relationship made further significant shifts from dependence to interdependence, based on Southeast Asia's continued dynamic economic development. Nevertheless, both the region's financial crisis of 1997-8 and EU disputes with ASEAN members over certain human rights issues have hindered attempts to recast the institutional framework of this relationship.
