브뤼셀 포럼

The International Workshop and Brussels Forum on “EU and East Asian Economic Integration: Agendas and Future” took place at Yonsei University’s New Millenium Hall #701 on the 11th of October. The forum, organized by the Yonsei-SERI EU Centre and Global Europe, invited 6 scholars to present on the long term implications of EU’s economic interests in East Asia and the viability of competing proposals for regional integration.

In the first session moderated by Prof. Young Ryeol Park, Director of the Yonsei-SERI EU Centre, Prof.Vladimir Hlasny(Ewha Womans University) presented on the topic of “Evaluating the EU-Korea FTA : One year on”. The EU and Korea both benefited from increased level of trade exchange. The trade imbalances between the two nations are decreasing, and certain sectors of imports from the EU to Korea has increased significantly. Evidence may be interpreted differently and is not decisive, but there is definite trend of beneficial trade increasing between the two parties.

The second presentation was given by Dr. Yoo Duk Kang (Korea institute for international economic policy), who presented on the topic of “The EU-Korea FTA : How does it affect EU’s further FTAs with East Asian Countries”. The EU-Korea FTA is being used as a model for other NEA countries in negotiating FTAs with Europe. East Asian economies are open to external trade and in competition with non-Asian markets, and are seeking FTA agreements with the EU partly as a result of Korea’s agreement.

The third presentation on Dr. Maria Garcia’s(University of Canterbury) topic of “Competitive Fear :the eU,USA and the free trade agreement in East Asia” examined the political goals behind competition and trade liberalization. Among the foreign policy objectives is rewarding friends and allies for international support and providing economic incentives for supporting economic reform. EU concern in the region prompted a gradual shift towards negotiating on a bilateral basis.

In the second session moderated by Dr. Daniel Novotny, director of Global Europe, Prof. Lee Moo Sung (Myongji University) first presented on “The case for regional integration in Northeast Asia : role of local governments”. The cooperation between the regional governments of Korea and China were examined, providing a perspective on the roles of local governments in contributing to a bottom-up approach to regional integration.

The second presentation was given by Prof. Chistopher Napoli (University of Nottingham, Malaysia), on the topic of “China and changing tides in ASEAN trade” Chinese trade with the European Union has increased greatly since its entry into the WTO. ASEAN countries have been crowded out of the EU market by China; however ASEAN has performed well and continue to be a popular FDI destination. The prospect of a possible ASEAN-EU FTA was examined during the presentation as well.

The third presentation was given by Philsoo Kim and Prof. Young-Ryeol Park on “the impact of institutional quality and differences on EU cross-border acquisitions in Northeast Asia”. In the paper, the impact of European integration on cross-border acquisition is explored. The institutional settlements constructed by the EU facilitates international transactions by lowering uncertainty and promoting economic exchanges.