Is ASEAN Another Version of the European Union?

February 25, 2025

Written by Oliver Nok Lam CHAN

The European Union (EU) is often considered as a standard for deep regional and supra-national organization, while the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is often compared to the EU, especially after the 10 members of ASEAN jointly announced that the ASEAN Community Integration would be realized on December 31, 2015. However, what type of ASEAN Community will be? Can it be considered as another version of the EU?

Historical and Structural Differences

The European Union (EU) and ASEAN were both established with the goal of fostering peace and economic cooperation. EU creation can be traced back to the World War II. Since World War II, which sapped people's conscience, intelligence, will, culture, and economic development, and created a fear of war, it has not hindered the progress of cooperation among nations but has led the world, especially Europe, into an era of multilateralism. For that, the European nations believe that economic interdependence can prevent future conflicts. Over time, the EU fosters an integration not only in the economic aspect, but also political, and even social policies.

In contrast, the ASEAN was formed in 1967 during the Cold War, their primary goal is to form a political alliance that fosters regional stability and prevents external influence. Therefore,  ASEAN has long practiced the “ASEAN way”, which advocates “consensus and non-interference in internal affairs”, and this has made it impossible for ASEAN to achieve a high degree of integration like that of the European Union (EU). This fundamental principle makes ASEAN an intergovernmental organization but not a supranational organization like the EU, which makes ASEAN different from the EU in terms of its organizational structure.

Decision-Making and Sovereignty : What Makes ASEAN Different from the EU

European Union members transfer part of their sovereignty to EU institutions (Treaty of Lisbon), which can enforce laws, regulations, and directives. The EU decisions heavily depend on three European Union institutions, the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament.

First of all, interest groups, businesses, or government ministries identify a problem or issue that needs addressing at the European level. Once an issue is identified, the European Commission will take the lead in preparing a proposal.

After, the proposal will move through the legislative process, specifically the ordinary legislative procedure, the most common procedure. Next, the European Parliament and Council of Ministers must agree on the proposal before enforcing the policies. There will be back-and-forth negotiations among the working parties, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), and also standing committees before handing the outcome of their discussions to the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

Subsequently, the national parliaments of the member state will serve as a check and monitor to ensure that the EU doesn’t overstep into areas that should be handled by member states (Member states can initiate a Yellow-Card procedure to require the Commission to review the proposal again). Afterward, the legislation is passed, and the European Commission is responsible for overseeing its implementation across the EU by using Delegated Acts (Article 290) or Implementing Acts (Article 291) in order to ensure a smooth implementation in the member state. Lastly, the adopted EU laws or directives will return to member states for practical implementation.

However, ASEAN does not function like the European Union due to its principle of ‘non-interference’. Its decision-making does not rely on any institution such as the European Commission, European Council, or European Parliament. Instead, ASEAN relies on intergovernmental decision-making, where each member state retains full sovereignty.

For instance, ASEAN decision-making depends on a consultative body called the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). However, the AIPA is not a platform for member states to create binding laws but a platform to discuss regional issues, make recommendations, and encourage member states to enforce them at their national level. It is a consensus-based style of decision-making. In this sense, ASEAN member states retain stronger national independence and sovereignty compared to EU members.

The Reasons Behind ASEAN's Inability to Be the EU

Professor Zhang Xuegang, an expert from CICIR, argues that ASEAN will not become another version of the European Union besides the reason of the ‘’non-interfering principle’’. First of all, with the long-standing ethnic alienation, ASEAN nations differ greatly in their political systems, ideologies, and religious beliefs, Additionally, the territories and the sea are still disputed. Forming a military or collective security coalition similar to the EU will be challenging.

Secondly, the ASEAN countries' economic development varies widely, with most of them still being agricultural countries and exporters of energy and raw materials, and at the lower end of the international industrial chain. They still do not need external support in terms of capital, technology, and human resources training for the interconnection of infrastructural facilities, the development of the manufacturing industry, the upgrading of added-value technology, and the improvement of labor productivity. This determines the low level of economic development of the ASEAN Community, which makes it difficult to implement in the short term a single currency and a common fiscal policy similar to that of the European Union, and even more difficult to realize the free movement of nationals among themselves.

Lastly, in the face of the European debt crisis and the Greek debt crisis started in late 2009, the EU-style high degree of integration has caused ASEAN countries to be vigilant and reflective, and ASEAN countries are not yet ready to implement a single currency (euro) and tariff union policy similar to that of the European Union, nor is it possible for them to accept a mechanism similar to that of the Schengen Agreement, which permits residents of member countries to enter other countries freely and visa-free.

Therefore, ASEAN will probably continue to follow its unique way of fostering regional cooperation. This is because if ASEAN directly copies the EU's way of operation, it may be counterproductive due to its ethnic alienation, political system, ideologies, and religious beliefs, as well as economic development differences between the member states.