The ASEAN Eminent Persons Group (EPG) was a group of prominent citizens from the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 Sovereign state, states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its ...

(ASEAN) member countries, tasked to create the

ASEAN Charter The ASEAN Charter is a constituent instrument of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It was adopted at the 13th ASEAN Summit in November 2007. The intention to draft the Charter had been formally proposed at the 11th ASEAN Sum ...

. The group was formed on 12 December 2005 via the 11th ASEAN Summit Declaration in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. The mandate of the group was to examine and review ASEAN's structure, areas of cooperation, principles and goals contained in agreements, treaties and declarations over the previous 38 years, and to provide ASEAN leaders with policy guidelines on the drafting of the ASEAN Charter. The group was to consider an agenda including: * Political and security (the ASEAN Security Community) * Economic and finance (the ASEAN Economic Community) * Functional (the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community) * External relations, bilaterally and inter-regionally * Narrowing the development gap among ASEAN member-states, in the context of the ASEAN Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), and the UN's

Millennium Development Goals In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These w ...

(MDGs) * ASEAN structure, including decision-making process, administrative modalities, sources of funds, working methods, cross-sectoral coordination, conduct of meetings, documentation of meetings, roles of the Secretary-General and the ASEAN Secretariat The group recommended key elements of an ASEAN Charter, including: * Vision of ASEAN beyond 2020 * Nature, principles, and objectives of ASEAN * Membership of ASEAN * Areas for enhanced ASEAN cooperation and integration * Narrowing the development gap among ASEAN member countries * Organs of ASEAN and their functions and working methods * ASEAN administrative structure (mechanisms, roles of the secretary-general and ASEAN Secretariat) * Legal personality of ASEAN * Conflict resolution mechanisms * External relations

The EPG report

In December 2006, at the twelfth ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines, the ASEAN EPG endorsed a report building on "ASEAN Vision 2020" as guidance for the new charter. The report contains observations, recommendations, and recommended draft language for the new charter. *First, to strengthen ASEAN regional solidarity and resilience, the EPG supports the "promotion of ASEAN's peace and stability through the active strengthening of democratic values,

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for t ...

, rejection of unconstitutional and undemocratic changes of government, the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

including international humanitarian law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms." as one of the inclusion of recommendations of the several fundamental principles and objectives of its report. * Second, the EPG suggests that as ASEAN economies are becoming more inter-linked, greater political commitment is needed. The report encouraged ASEAN leaders to meet more often to give greater political impetus to ASEAN community building. * Third, it points out that ASEAN requires substantial resources to ensure that ASEAN member-states can grow collectively without development gaps. * Fourth, member-states need to "take obligations seriously". The EPG recommends "Dispute Settlement Mechanisms (DSM) be established in all fields of ASEAN cooperation which should include compliance monitoring, advisory, consultative as well as enforcement mechanisms." * Fifth, it encourages strengthening the ASEAN Secretariat as the scope of ASEAN activities widens. Furthermore, it recommends that ASEAN should consider alternative methods of decision-making, such as voting, when consensus cannot be reached. * Sixth, in order to improve ASEAN's image, it recommends cultivating "ASEAN as a people-centred organisation and to strengthen the sense of ownership and belonging among its people,..."

EPG members

* Brunei Darussalam **Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade *

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

** Aun Porn Moniroth, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme National Economic Council of Cambodia *

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

** Ali Alatas, former Minister for Foreign Affairs *

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

**Khamphan Simmalavong, former Deputy Minister of Commerce *

** Tan Sri

Musa Hitam Musa bin Hitam (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: موسى بن هيتم; born 18 April 1934) is a Malaysian retired politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 1986, serving under Mahathir Mohamad. He was the chairman of Si ...

, former

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

- Chairman of the EPG *

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

** Than Nyun, former Deputy Minister of Education and Chairman of the Union Civil Service Selection and Training Board *

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

, former

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

, former Secretary of National Defense, Chairman of the Boa'o Forum of Asia *

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

** S. Jayakumar, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Law *

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

**Kasemsamosorn Kasemsri, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

**Nguyen Manh Cam, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs

References

{{reflist Think tanks established in 2005 Organizations associated with ASEAN