Political Integration in the European Union: Any Lessons for ASEAN?

Abstract

This chapter asks whether, and to what extent, the experience of political integration in the European Union (EU) could be applicable to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The argument proceeds in three stages: first, it analyses the manifestations of political integration in the EU; second, it discusses how these manifestations are linked to contextual specificities in the West European political landscape; and, finally, it evaluates the transferability of institutions, policies, and their underlying assumptions to the ASEAN context. At the same time, it is important to emphasize what this chapter does not attempt to do. The evolution of European economic integration is deliberately omitted except where, and insofar as, that process impinges upon or directly determines the shape and substance of political integration. Economic integration is dealt with in chapter four of this volume. Likewise, defence and security themes are avoided as these are dealt with in chapter seven, except, again, where these directly reflect or constrain political integration processes. Moreover, the focus here is not with EU—ASEAN relations per se. These are after all conceptually quite distinct from the question of whether the EU could provide a model for ASEAN’s political integration. One can conceive of conditions where relations between the two organizations might be very close, but no scope for induced integration is deemed possible and vice versa.