Director, EU Centre; senior research fellow, Singapore Institute for International Affairs

In Southeast Asia, following the departure of the European colonial powers after the Second World War, the United States, followed by Japan and China, replaced several of them as the key players in the geopolitics and geoeconomics of the region.

Europe has still not fully regained its influence and predominance in Southeast Asia, despite the step-up efforts in recent years to engage the region. EU-Asean cooperation established in 1977 has expanded in scope and depth over the last 30 years despite various trials and tribulations.

From a narrow focus on issues of market access and development, EU-Asean partnership now extends to political and security dialogue and the participation of the EU in the Asean Regional Forum (ARF).

Trade and investment ties have strengthened: the EU is now Asean's second overall trading partner and Asean's largest foreign investor.

At the same time, Asean as an entity is the EU's fifth largest external trading partner.

However, in the area of political dialogue, differences between Asean and the EU persist with regards to how to deal with Myanmar. Myanmar has been a millstone in EU-Asean relations ever since it became a member of the latter in 1997.

However, following last year's elections in Myanmar, Asean called for the EU to consider lifting its sanctions against the country and to open up engagement.

Regarding traditional security issues, the EU is not regarded as a strategic player in Southeast Asia. This was reflected in the relative absence of the EU's voice and perspective on the rising tensions in the South China Sea.

The EU is also currently mired in its own debt crisis and is scrambling to deal with the unfolding drama in North Africa and the Middle East, an area that is defined by the EU as 'near-abroad'. This has distracted the EU further.

It tried to compensate for the lack of improvement in political and security engagement by embarking on negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Asean in 2007.

However, after nine rounds, both parties concluded that the conditions were not yet ripe for a region-to-region FTA and negotiations were put on hold in 2009. The generally positive economic outlook and potential of most Southeast Asian countries and the importance of gaining a stronger economic foothold in this region led the EU to relaunch the FTA negotiations with Asean countries on a one-to-one basis.

These bilateral FTAs would be important building blocks for any EU-Asean economic partnership. The EU should also consider using its experience in the Aceh Monitoring Mission to develop for itself a more proactive role in Southeast Asia's security dialogue by offering its assistance and expertise in areas of mediation and conflict prevention.