A one-day ministerial conference between foreign ministers and senior officials from the
27 EU members and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) took place in Madrid.
The global economic crisis, security issues and climate change are also on the agenda.
More about the talks EU-ASEAN
26.05.2010
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, opened the conference with a call for greater cooperation to
confront the crisis.
"Our friends in ASEAN are emerging (from the crisis) with less problems than Europe is experiencing, thanks to its dynamism and the general situation in
Asia and the Pacific," he told the delegates.
He said EU hopes ASEAN can take "an open and comprehensive attitude to jointly confront the temptations of protectionism, open markets, create a favourable
environment for investments and cooperate in efforts the economic and institutional framework at a global financial level."
The ministers are also expected to discuss relations with China, given the role that the Asian giant plays in trade with both the EU and ASEAN.
An ASEAN-China free trade pact came into effect earlier this year, establishing the world's biggest free-trade zone in terms of population, covering nearly two
billion consumers.
The European Union is the world's largest market for Chinese exports, but the bloc has voiced concerns about growing protectionism and unequal treatment
for European firms in China.
Salarich said the ministers will also discuss the tensions between North and South Korea.
But he said the recent turmoil in Thailand is not on the agenda as it is an "internal situation" in a member country, although the country's representative at
the talks, Jitriya Pinthong, deputy permanent secretary of the foreign ministry, may make a statement about it.
ASEAN groups includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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