Regional Integration: EU and ASEAN Perspectives

On February 23, 2012, an international conference with the theme: “Regional Integration: EU and ASEAN Perspectives” was organized by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (Germany). Attending the conference were scientists from Germany, Belgium, the United States, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh - Rector of the University - attended and delivered the opening speech.The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed strong and multi-dimensional changes in the process of regional integration and association. The public debt crisis in recent years in the Eurozone of the European Union has shaken the economies in the region, forcing the organization to take decisive and urgent actions to overcome the consequences and prevent the impact of the crisis. Issues related to public debt, the causes and impacts as well as the way the EU has resolved public debt are not isolated cases and experiences are local in nature. What can ASEAN learn from the EU's experiences to avoid repeating mistakes in its integration process? How can the EU and ASEAN further promote the integration process from this crisis in the future? What relationship should the EU and ASEAN establish and how should they cooperate to support and help each other most effectively in their integration strategy? At this conference, scientists discussed and gave profound and comprehensive explanations to contribute to clarifying theoretical and practical issues of regional integration in the context of globalization of today's world. Prof. David Arase (Nanjing University) in his presentation titled "Regionalization in East Asia in 2012 - Impact of new factors in East Asia and the European Union" mentioned issues of the new balance of power in East Asia that have the potential to change the regionalization process in East Asia from the ASEAN+-centered process to a trans-Pacific treaty framework... Dr. Gerhard Will (German Institute for International Security Studies) said: The future of the EU depends on the extent and ability of the EU to find harmony between the needs of voters/people and the needs of the international financial market. The re-establishment of an EU structural model seems inevitable, but it will only be successful if the people actively support and promote reform actions. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen An Ha (Director, Institute for European Studies) emphasized a number of causes leading to the EU's public debt crisis and its impacts: negative impacts on the economy leading to social instability, political tensions; impacts on the EU's common foreign policy: crisis in the development model; negative impacts on the pillars of regional integration. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen An Ha proposed a number of solutions to respond and forecast the prospects of the EU and the EU currency in 2012. In addition, other opinions at the workshop also mentioned issues related to regional integration in Southeast Asia: Current status and prospects of ASEAN integration and linkage, ASEAN identity, Challenges to the process of building the ASEAN Political-Security Community...