From Asean To Usean: A Possibility Of An Integration

The success of the European Union (EU) has been an inspiration for the rest of the world in terms of forming bonds with more than cooperation in mind. Its success has led world leaders into thinking of forming regional organizations similar to the EU. Considering this, let us discuss whether it is possible to transform the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to the Ð''Union of Southeast Asia' or not.

The Beginnings of an Integration

Although the primary impetus for European Integration was the need to prevent conflict between the European states, from the outset it also had a strong economic rationale. Jean Monnet, who had been appointed by then General Charles de Gaulle in 1946, was the principal architect of the plan for a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). He strongly favored Franco-German cooperation and European links with the US. He favored projects which went beyond Ð''mere cooperation' between governments and embreaced the idea of a Ð''fusion of interests' of the European people as a long-term goal.

The idea of the Monnet plan was to establish a system of joint regulation of the coal and steel industries of participating states. Cross-border trade barriers would be abolished and the industries would be regulated by a 'supranational' authority. The plan offered practical economic benefits for the participants by providing coal and steel producers with a larger market for their goods. The plan was designed to serve both national and wider European interest, and to address the six original members of the European Community's (EC) own objectives in pursuing co-operation.

When the ESCS was established by the Treaty of Paris in 1951, it eliminated in 1952 trade barriers (duties, quotas and dual pricing) on coal, steel and iron ore. It created a supranational authority (the High Authority), and also had a Council of Ministers, a European Assembly, a Court of Justice and a counsultative committee comprising producer, worker and other interests. Besides these institutions, the fact that the ECSC had a council of Ministers showed that governments were not willing to surrender full sovereignty over these functions to a supranational authority.

The establishment of the ECSC demonstrated the feasibility of functional integration, that is, the integration of specific sectors of policy previously controlled by national governments. According to Monnet, the ECSC proposals were revolutionary and constituted Ð''the abnegation of sovereignty in a limited but decisive field'. He saw it as a forerunner of a broader united Europe, because what had been done in the case of coal and steel could be applied to other sectors. The ECSC's structure served as the prototype for the institutional structure of the European Economic Community (EEC), established five years later. However in EEC's case, the Commission was given less power than the High Authority and its Council of Ministers more power than that of its ECSC's counterpart.

Other sectors were tested using the ECSC structure, such as the failed European Defence Cooperation, atomic energy and transport. (Archer, 2000)

The ASEAN, however, was formed to aid in economic development and to solve the terrorist problems in the region. Since there has been no immediate destructive problems that the Southeast Asia faced, like war in Europe, our leaders thought that there is nothing more that the region needs other than mere cooperation. Also, the ASEAN leaders possibly deem that their countries were not yet ready for such a big leap.

European Union Law: The Scope of EU's Integration

From then on, the European Integration provided a lot of benefits to its Member States, and all of its policies and regulations are stated in the region's very own law. According to Article 2 of the EC Treaty, the European Community has as its task the establishment of a common market and the implementation of common policies and activities. By these means, an appropriate, balanced and sustainable development of economic activities throughout the Union, a high level of employment and social protection, equality between men and women, sustainable and non-inflationary growth, a high degree of competitiveness and convergence of economic performance, a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, the raising of the standard of living and quality of life, and economic and social cohesion and solidary among Member States are to be promoted. (Evans, 1998)

The Ð''activities' are outlined in Article 3 of the EC Treaty. This provision makes clear that the common market entails: the elimination, as between Member States, of customs duties and of quantitative restrictions on the import and export of goods, and of all other measures having equivalent effect; an internal market characterized by the abolition, as between Member States, of obstacles to the freedom of movement for persons, services, and capital; and a system to ensure that competition in the internal market is not distorted.

In addition, the differences between the laws of the various EU Member States are to be reduced, where these differences jeopardize the functioning of the common market. At the same time, the pursuit of a range of social and economic policies is envisaged. Their pursuit is to be based on both legislative harmonization and the harmonization through financial instruments. They are to include: common policies in the sphere of agriculture and fishing and for transport; coordination between employment policies of the Member States; a policy in the social sphere comprising a European Social Fund; the strengthening of economic and social cohesion; environmental policy; the strengthening of a competitiveness of Union industry; the promotion of research and technological development; encouragement for the establishment and development of trans-European networks (for transport and communications); a contribution to the attainment of a high level of health protection; a contribution to education and training of quality and to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States; a contribution to the strengthening of consumer protection; and measures in the spheres of energy, civil protection, and tourism. (Evans, 1998)

In all these activities the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women. At the same time, environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of these policies and activities. This integration is to be designed to promote sustainable development.

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