Meeting at the European Parliament

On 17 February 2009, H.E. Dato' Hussein Haniff was invited to brief the European Parliament (EP) on the latest political and economic developments in Malaysia.

Courtesy Call By H.E. Dato' Hussein Haniff on Mr Hartmut Nassauer, Member of European Parliament

Prior to the meeting, H.E. Ambassador made a courtesy call on Mr. Hartmut Nassauer, member of European Parliament (MEP) who will be leading the EP's delegation to visit Malaysia and Acheh on 26 to 27 February 2009.

Despite this was the first meeting between H.E. Ambassador and Mr. Nassauer, the meeting was conducted in a very friendly and comfortable environment. Both sides exchanged views on a number of issues surrounding the Malaysia-EU relations as well as the latest political and economic developments in Malaysia. Among the issues discussed during the meeting were:

1. The latest development in ASEAN;
2. The latest development in Myanmar;
3. ASEAN Community 2015;
4. The differences and the similarities between ASEAN and EU;
5. Political development in Malaysia especially in Perak; and
6. Measures taken by Malaysia to face the economic crisis.

Meeting at the European Parliament

During the meeting, H.E. Ambassador was invited to give a briefing on the current Malaysia-EU relations and the latest political and economic development in Malaysia as well as the development of Malaysia-EU relations particularly on the ASEAN-EU FTA negotiation.

H.E. Ambassador stressed that non-trade issues such as labour and environment have become the main stumbling blocks in concluding the negotiation. Highlighting the differences in economic levels among the ASEAN countries as compared to EU countries, H.E. Ambassador pointed out the need for ASEAN-FTA negotiation to focus more on trade related issues and seek EP?s cooperation to lower some of the bars and standards set by the EC to enable speedy conclusion of the negotiation