The heralding of the enlarged EU was a defining moment in European history primarily because it was a declaration of new freedom and hope. For this reason it was celebrated with the passionate zeal of a promised better future quality of life also by the rest of western Europe.

This is not the place to enter into an understanding of the precise nature of the structure and the positive outcomes that closer EU regional integration might achieve particularly in terms of its relevance to other regional groupings such as Asean.

But perhaps some attempt might be made to identify areas where EU integration is creating a pivotal political and social environment to enhance and stimulate professional capacity and capability in high technology industries that lie at the heart of futuristic new inventions, innovations, and creativity.

For instance it is now estimated that 25,000 researchers will, for the first time ever, come together to share research expertise in mutually conducive and stimulating s scientific environments.

Also, Germany has in place research foundations to offer full fellowships and other research facilities and financial grants for the best candidates from any where in the world from any field in the physical or social sciences to come to Germany to undertake new relevant research.

Indeed it is also becoming increasingly clear that certain types of research such as that being undertaken the Baltic Sea Research Institute would never have been possible without EU regional enlargement integration in the first place.

There is no question that Asean could benefit tremendously from the provision of similar facilities and especially by 'leap-frog' type opportunities for technology transfer within a short period of time.

This having been said, however, it also needs to be recognised that the entire scenario of EU enlargement can be seen as essentially euro-centric and to this extent isolated from the reality and dynamism of the political and socio-economic systems of the modern globalised world.

It seems as though the rest of the world, particularly the developing countries have been faced with a fait accompli to accept the new enlarged EU integration on its own terms, without addressing the wider concerns of increasing global inequality within and between countries.

Impact of enlargement

Herein lies the theoretical and pragmatic contradictions of the enlarged Euro integration scenario, because of the failure to think historically of the meaning, significance, and the impact of this advent on its trading partners, particularly among those counties that were once ruled by the same colonial political powers that now dominate the EU.

Enlarging the EU should therefore, in the first instance, be seen in the context of European history in terms of its worldwide impact, particularly in the context of the under-development of the developing countries in the wake of imperialism, colonialism. and now globalisation.

Europe gave these countries the Enlightenment, the Renaissance, the Bill of Rights and the French Revolution but also the Industrial Revolution and with it the so-called 'civilising mission' that, despite its other merits, also effectively undermined the socio-economic and cultural fabric that had been the core of their own indigenous societies for centuries.

The social impact has been irreversible because nothing meaningful was ever substituted in its place. The societies therefore were abandoned and left to their own to cope with, and to accommodate to, forces of modernisation and social change that were totally alien to their socio-cultural milieu.

Now with the advent of the political economy of globalisation, it has been argued that global capitalism and global terrorism can in fact be seen as two sides of the same coin, and therefore EU enlargement should surely be seen as accepting to repay a historical moral debt to the developing countries.

The question of enlargement must involve not so much a debate on 'widening' the EU in terms of regional horizontal integration within Europe alone, but also 'deepening' the vertical political integration in such a way as to include regional integration with the developing counties such as Asean.

Stability at stake

What is at stake today is nothing less than world peace and the EU enlargement needs to encapsulate the pivotal movement towards this objective if it is to successfully achieve the goals it has set for itself .

In this connection, let there be no doubt or uncertainty. Unless and until the politico- social issues associated with widespread poverty and inequality between and within countries are successfully addressed, the risk of serious militant conflict within both the EU and its regional partners will remain high.

Within the EU itself, the problem of illegal migration and refugees has begun to manifest itself in creating problems of political instability threatening national security.

For instance in the recent Madrid train bombings it has been shown that some of the Moroccan suspects were in fact among recent immigrants. The EU would be ignoring the root causes of such migration and that of refugees in their respective countries at its own peril.

A word on the rapidly changing scenario of political Islam, and indeed what has been termed 'Islamic terrorism' among Asian countries may not be out of place in the context of enhancing EU integration.

We seem to be seeing in the general election results in Malaysia and Indonesia a clear choice of Islamic political parties that espouse a progressive. 'secular' and modernistic philosophy of Islam rather than one based on purely fundamentalist theocratic dogma.

The meaning of this trend appears to be, that particularly among younger voters, there is the demand for a new worldview to take control of their lives, through new opportunities in the dynamic high-technology globalised economy, to experience a better quality of life.

But by the same token, it also means that the respective governments should be given notice to deliver, and to deliver quickly. Failure to do so my well result in a cumulative effect where the level of rising expectations accumulates in rising frustrations, with an accompanying negative impact on political stability and world peace.

Asean scenario

Any attempt to consider the situation in Asean in terms of closer integration with the EU enlargement in the context of this analysis is fraught with theoretical and pragmatic problems.

Indeed, at the risk of over simplification, one might dismiss any serious analysis by merely referring to the statements of the outgoing and current Asean secretary-general respectively.

The former referred to Asean as a talk shop' and an "old boys' club'. The latter, stated in the context of Australia that "Asean is on one bus, Australia is on a different bus".

It can be argued that this comparison could well be applicable to the EU as well. Paradoxically, it can be said that each of these perspectives does to some extent reflect the situation in the origins and evolution of the organisation.

Indeed, in a recent keynote speech, Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister and Asean representative Syed Hamid Albar expressed pride that the organisation had evolved " step by step and block by block" and today represents 10 sovereign states.

He explained that the driving force of this achievement was based on what he described as internalising external demands, as well as on integrating and accommodating competition between states on the basis of strength in diversity, rather than on legitimacy based on legal and other social institutions. per se.

It can be argued that to some extent this institutional framework was perhaps the main reason why the organisation has thus far managed to stand the test of time.

This position is based on the premise that the representatives of the different states are in fact members of the political elite in their respective countries. Therefore they bring to bear on the organisation common interests, values and understanding as a "class" that enables more informal rather than formal relationships in governance.

It could equally be argued that representing the interests of this ruling class in a top-bottom organisational structure would necessarily work towards discouraging strong institutional building as well as militate against the provision of capacity and capability training towards creating a level playing field from a 'bottom-top' perspective.

It needs to be emphasised that these concerns are not merely matters of academic interest. Indeed even by 2002 Asean Foreign Ministers agreed to cooperate more closely "to counter a growing impression that the region is a hotbed of terrorism".

At the same time, Calpers, the "largest pension fund in the US", decided to divest its investments in four Southeast Asian nations including Malaysia. When it reversed its decision last year, it still excluded Malaysia and Thailand from its list.

Calpers has since made it clear that it intends to improve the investment climate in the region by emphasising that "social factors" are as important as "financial factors". ( New Straits Times , April 23, 2004)

Asean must pay serious attention to the possibility that foreign direct investments in the region may ease off, given their relatively high rate of dependence on such investments and the dire consequences for political stability, ethnic harmony and indeed possible terrorism.

It would seem that any attempt to ascertain the extent to which regional integration can

be further achieved between the EU and Asean - particularly with the advent of the enlarged EU - would involve a need for comprehensive review of the structure and functions of Asean.

This is especially with special reference to the democratisation of grassroots social institutions from a 'bottom-top' perspective.

DR COLLIN ABRAHAM, who started his career as a civil servant, spent 16 years as a sociology lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is currently a freelance social development consultant.