After ASEAN's inception in 1967, the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1972 became the first dialogue partner to establish informal relations with ASEAN through the Special Coordinating Committee of ASEAN (SCCAN). On 7 May 1975, an ASEAN-EEC Joint Study Group (JSG) was formed to look into collaborative endeavours between the two regions.

In 1977, ASEAN's relationship with the EEC was formalised. Upon the initiative of Germany, it was agreed that regular contacts between ASEAN and the EEC be raised to the Ministerial level. Subsequently, the first ASEAN-EEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Brussels in September 1978.

Links with the EEC were institutionalised on 7 March 1980 with the signing of the EC-ASEAN Cooperation Agreement at the Second ASEAN-EEC Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Under the Agreement, objectives for commercial, economic and technical cooperation were established and a Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) was formed as a mechanism to monitor ASEAN-EEC cooperation.

ASEAN-EU (re-termed after the birth of the European Union in 1992) relations intensified in 1994 with the 11th AEMM in Karlsruhe, Germany. The landmark meeting agreed to the creation of an ad hoc Eminent Persons Group (EPG), with members drawn from both regions, to develop a comprehensive approach to ASEAN-EU political and security, economic and cultural relations towards the year 2000 and beyond. The spirit of Karlsruhe also provided the momentum for the First Meeting of ASEAN-EU Senior Officials (SOM) in Singapore in 1995, the 12th ASEAN-EC JCC in Brussels, Belgium in October 1995 and the Second Meeting of the ASEAN-EU SOM in 1996 in Dublin, Ireland, where frank discussions were held on a wide range of issues.

The launch of the New Asia Strategy in 1994 and the declaration that ASEAN would remain the cornerstone of the EU's dialogue with countries in Asia at the Karlsruhe meeting set the stage for the convening of the first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) which held its inaugural Summit in Bangkok in March 1996 as well as the 1st ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting in Singapore in February 1997 where ASEAN played a pivotal role. Both sides are committed to the new Comprehensive Asia-Europe Partnership for Greater Growth forged by the leaders at the Summit and have agreed to outline mechanisms and guidelines to implement the Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework and to establish an Asia-EU Vision Group at ASEM II to provide ideas for the development of the ASEM process for the next century. Another important step in the Asia-Europe partnership was the launching of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) based in Singapore in February 1997, fostering greater people-to-people relations and developing institutional linkages between Asia and Europe.

In July 1996, the EC released a Communication on Creating a New Dynamic in EU-ASEAN Relations where it underscored ASEAN as an important political interlocutor and the engine of the new Asia-Europe dialogue. Many of the recommendations of the EPG Report released in June 1996 were incorporated into this communication.

The 12th AEMM, held in Singapore in February 1997, acted on the "Karlsruhe spirit" and laid out guidelines for ASEAN-EU relations in the next decade, emphasising the economic potentials of the two regions. It also advocated further AFTA-EU cooperation and greater ASEAN-EU private sector cooperation through business networking and joint ventures.

The foreign ministers of both the EU and ASEAN have met in the framework of the political dialogue since 1978 every second year and since 1995 it has been agreed that EU-ASEAN senior officials would meet between ministerial meetings. The political dialogue meetings are in 'block-to block' formation, including representatives of all EU and ASEAN countries. The 13th EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) took place in Vientiane, Laos, on 11/12 December 2000. The Vientiane Declaration, issued after the meeting, reported that the meeting had reached meaningful conclusions on enhancing EU-ASEAN political and economic co-operation and that discussions had also covered a number of sensitive issues, during a wide-ranging review of international affairs. The dialogue thus demonstrated its increasing maturity, based on the growing recognition that this is a dialogue between equals. The 14th AEMM was held in Brussels on 27/28 January 2003, where a Joint Declaration on Co-operation to Combat Terrorism was adopted.

Two-level relations:

• ASEAN-EU Dialogue: The political dialogue entails regular Ministerial meetings (15 EU Member States +10 ASEAN countries), participation in the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs) which take place immediately after ASEAN's annual ministerial meetings, and in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
• ASEAN-EU Co-operation Agreement: Signed in 1980, partners to the Agreement are the EU Member States and the original signatory countries of ASEAN, (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand). With the enlargement of ASEAN, the new ASEAN member countries have to negotiate separate 'additional protocols'. Brunei and Vietnam are now partners to the Agreement, with protocols for their accession signed in 1985 and 1999, respectively. Protocols for the accession of Cambodia and Laos to the Agreement were signed in July 2000 and are in the process of ratification. Myanmar is not a signatory, and the EU has made it clear that this will be contingent on significant progress to resolve democracy and human rights issues.