ABSTRACT
The fourth chapter analyses the second part of the process that led to the institutionalisation of the ASEAN regional disaster management: the signature of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER). The AADMER Agreement was signed by the ten ASEAN member states in July 2005, seven months after the 2004 tsunami.
The chapter looks at the main features of the AADMER and compares it with the EU Community Mechanism implemented by the 2001 EU Council Decision. The chapter shows that the partial similarities between the norms adopted by the ASEAN and the EU can be explained by the adoption of globally recognised principles and are therefore not the result of a form of regional influence by the EU. The chapter looks at the fours actors’ typology which by performing a certain action(s) produces the analysed outcome: the leaders, the reference, the sponsor and the implementer. By analysing the mechanism that triggered the signature of the AADMER Agreement, the chapter argues that the EU cannot be considered a point of reference in disaster management policy for ASEAN member states. The AADMER Agreement was an ASEAN product, inspired by the Hyogo Framework and influenced by the tsunami experience.
