SPECIAL EDITION.. ASEF 10th ANNIVERSARY LECTURE TOUR

Lessons and Reflections on Regionalisation in Asia and Europe :   Asian & European Perspectives
Bernhard Zepter Former Ambassador and Head of the European Commission Delegation to Japan Former Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission	Rodolfo C. Severino Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore Former Secretary-General : Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Berlin I Brussels I Dublin I London I Paris I The Hague I Warsaw

Beijing I Jakarta I Manila I Singapore I Tokyo

Lessons and Reflections on Regionalisation:

A European Perspective

Bernhard Zepter

In the history of nation states European Integration is certainly a unique experiment. In the last 50 years tremendous progress has been achieved in Europe on the way to regional integration and many countries all over the world follow very closely this process.

There continues to be a need however, to take stock of our achievements, with a focus on emphasising our challenges ahead and looking at the specificities of EU-relations with Asia .

In doing so, this lecture will explain some features of European integration with particular relevance for Asian countries or regional organisations. More specifically, this lecture will examine the political dimension of European integration and other features which demonstrate that the European model of regionalisation goes far beyond economic integration and has thus started to shape new patterns of international law which are of utmost relevance to better manage the social implications of globalisation.

This lecture will also take stock of the most important achievements of European unity: political and social stability; economic prosperity as well as enhanced competitiveness through the introduction of a fully integrated single market, a truly integrated trade policy and the introduction of the Euro; other important common policies like culture, infrastructure, development, energy, labour or fiscal policies as well as the notion of environmental sustainability and gender mainstreaming in European policy shaping. This stocktaking will also include a reference to the EU as an active international player.

This analysis will also include looking at the most important challenges ahead, in particular the future of the European Constitution and further developments concerning enlargement of the EU, including the emergence of a European identity.

Finally, this lecture will examine the relations between the EU and Asia, with specific focus on our relations with Asian regional organisations or on the emergence of enhanced Economic Partnership Agreements as an addition or, in case of continued stalemate of the Doha Round as an alternative to the classical GATT/WTO negotiations on market access and trade liberalisation .

Is European Integration therefore a blueprint for neighbourhood policy throughout the world? Is the EU the most appropriate and effective answer to the process of globalisation? Can in particular regions like East- and Southeast Asia , where the issue of regionalisation has become an intensively discussed topic, learn from or even copy the European model?

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Lessons and Reflections on Regionalisation:

An Asian Perspective  

Rodolfo C. Severino

In both Asia and Europe , the European Union is, explicitly or implicitly, often held up as the paradigm of regionalism. Less often, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is invoked as a model for Asia . In Asia, impatience with the slow pace of economic integration in ASEAN and in the larger region of East Asia and concern over the tensions in the relations between regional states have prompted people to look to the European experience and achievement, whether the EU, the OSCE or both, as an inspiration and an aspiration.

In doing so, there has been a recognition that the differences between Asia and Europe – in history, in culture, in the relationships between the nations within each region, and in the temperament of their peoples – need to be acknowledged, and naturally impact the respective regionalisation models.

This lecture will examine the relevance of the European experience for Asia. Within this framework, this lecture will first look into the evolution and current state of Asian regionalism, in ASEAN and then the larger region of East Asia.

Two central observations are to be made about East Asia. The first is that the East Asian economy is integrating but that, unlike in the EU, market forces, rather than government policy and inter-governmental agreements, are driving the integration. The second is that, as demonstrated in Europe, formal measures, official agreements and some form of regional institutions, as well as concrete, pragmatic steps, may be necessary to facilitate and accelerate the integration process; and here Asia can learn much from the European Union. However, deep political differences continue to prevent these steps from being effectively taken in Asia.

What mechanism whould be put in place that would help mitigate and manage the differences and tensions between states? Could the East Asia Summit be such a mechanism? How can the process of accelerating or facilitating the economic integration of East Asia be encouraged?

Lecture Itinerary (Europe)

Lecture Itinerary (Asia)