Background
document
Conclusions
75. ASEM's most concrete achievements in its short existence reside in the structure of both political and technical-level meetings it has established, which appear to have taken on a regular and quasi-institutional basis. These have, however, largely neglected to include reference to social issues and have not incorporated a role for consultation with trade unions and other representative members of civil society.
76. However, there are signs of a possible opening up of the ASEM process. In the light of the crisis in public confidence in the WTO, the European Commission's working paper for the Seoul Leaders' Summit advocates a number of measures to improve ASEM's consultative processes and its dialogue on social issues. Unions must ensure that they play a full part in this process and that they are fully included in any participatory structures that ASEM may create.
77. Business has clearly had a privileged relationship with ASEM since its inception, which stands to be further enhanced at the Seoul Leaders' Summit. Unions could take the evolving relationship that ASEM has with the Business Forum as a contribution towards a model for building a similar consultative role for unions.
78. The European Commission working paper recommends dialogue about, and with, consumer groups and other components of civil society. This is an opportunity for unions to get involved with NGOs and consumer groups, and develop elements of common proposals towards the official ASEM process.
79. The World Bank's role in the ASEM Trust Fund, set up at the London 1998 Summit to administer social projects in the ASEM process, requires close attention concerning the uses to which the resources are put. The Trust Fund needs to be a focus for union attention with a view to incorporating trade union concerns into its functioning and priorities.
80. The Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP) and Investment Promotion Action Plan (IPAP) are two of the main engines of ASEM co-operation. Presently the Asia Europe Business Forum has a participatory and consultative role in the implementation of these plans. Unions must develop a thorough analysis of these plans and the social impact of their continuing implementation, and develop recommendations with which to engage ASEM leaders and Senior Officials' Meetings.
81. The Asia Europe Vision Group's report for ASEM3 is concerned with managing social imbalances. It further recommends that ASEM devote attention to global issues, among which it lists workers' rights. Both these areas provide unions with an opening to assert their role in raising the living standards of workers and in calling for the incorporation of the ILO's fundamental rights at work, as specified in the 1998 ILO Declaration, into the ASEM process.
82. All the proposals made above provide ways of maximising the positive contribution of ASEM to achieving sustainable recovery from the Asian economic and financial crisis and so achieving a continuation and deepening of ASEM co-operation for increased trade, investment and economic growth at the same time as progress in living standards for the whole population.
© Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung I October 2000
Draft
statement
to
ASEM 3