Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said they plan to ``expeditiously'' negotiate talks for a free-trade agreement between the two blocs, and called on Myanmar to release political detainees.

The two groups also reiterated their support for an ``ambitious, balanced and comprehensive conclusion'' to the World Trade Organization Doha round of talks and said it was a priority for them, according to a declaration issued today at the Asean-EU summit in Singapore.

We will ``enhance economic relations by expeditiously negotiating the Asean-EU free trade agreement based on a region- to-region approach,'' the declaration said. The talks will be ``mindful of the different levels of development and capacity of individual Asean countries.''

The EU's governments in April gave the go-ahead for the bloc to open trade negotiations with India, South Korea, Asean and Central America as talks on a worldwide agreement falter. Southeast Asian nations are seeking ways to improve their competitiveness against neighbors China and India, the world's two fastest-growing major economies.

A free trade agreement between Asean and the EU will take ``many years'' to complete due to organizational differences and may come only nearer to 2015, Asean Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said earlier this year.

The 10-member Asean this week agreed to implement changes to their markets to allow the region to be an EU-modeled economic community, without a common currency, by 2015.

Statement on Myanmar

Asean and the EU ``call for the release of political detainees in Myanmar, including those recently detained, and the early lifting of restrictions placed on political parties,'' the declaration said.

We ``welcome the decision of the government of Myanmar to step up its engagement with the UN and to enter into a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, recalling that such a dialogue should be conducted with all concerned parties and ethnic groups,'' it said.

The EU this week tightened sanctions against the country which crushed anti-government protests in September.

The EU and Asean will also cooperate in efforts to ensure energy security and promote the use of renewable and alternative fuel sources, the draft declaration said. They also pledged to a long-term goal of limiting global emissions of greenhouse gases.

We ``commit to act with resolve to meet the interrelated multiple goals of addressing climate change, reducing air pollution and improving the global environment while contributing to sustainable development and improving energy security,'' the declaration said.

Asean groups Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Formed in 1967, it has a combined gross domestic product of over $1.03 trillion and a population of about 570 million.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at sadam2@bloomberg.net; En-Lai Yeoh in Singapore at at eyeoh1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 22, 2007 00:23 EST