ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines that the most recent Helsinki Summit placed the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process back on track after the impasse caused by Burma/Myanmar's joining in 2004. Helsinki was the third European city after London and Copenhagen to host an ASEM summit. ASEM6 has sought to improve the grassroots-level feedback by providing better opportunities for the different stakeholder groups to channel their ideas and recommendations into the official process. The decision taken at the Helsinki Summit to enlarge ASEM to a partnership of 45 members by including India, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat was certainly the most striking outcome of the Helsinki Summit. The European Union (EU) China Summit, held ahead of the Helsinki Summit on 9 September 2006 for example issued a joint declaration on energy security, and announced the launch of negotiations for a future EU-China Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA).
