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 witnessed significant and multifaceted changes in regional integration. The recent sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone of the European Union has shaken regional economies, forcing the organization to take decisive and urgent action to mitigate its consequences and prevent further impact. Issues related to public debt, their causes and effects, and the way the EU addressed it are not isolated cases or local experiences. What can ASEAN learn from the EU's experiences to avoid repeating mistakes in its own integration process? How can the EU and ASEAN further strengthen their integration process from this crisis in the future? What kind of relationship and cooperation are necessary for the EU and ASEAN to effectively support and assist each other in their integration strategy? At this conference, scientists discussed and offered insightful and comprehensive explanations to help clarify the theoretical and practical issues of regional integration in the context of today's globalization. Professor David Arase (Nanjing University), in his paper entitled "The Regionalization Process in East Asia in 2012 – The Impact of New Factors in East Asia and the European Union," addressed the issue of the new balance of power in East Asia, which has the potential to change the regionalization process in East Asia from an ASEAN+-centric process to a trans-Pacific treaty framework... Dr. Gerhard Will (German Institute for International Security Studies) argued that the future of the EU depends on the extent and ability of the EU to find a balance between the needs of voters/citizens and the needs of international financial markets. The re-establishment of an EU structural model seems inevitable, but it will only succeed if the people actively support and promote reform actions. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen An Ha (Director, Institute of European Studies) emphasized several causes leading to the EU's public debt crisis and its impact: negative impacts on the economy leading to social instability and political tensions; impacts on the EU's common foreign policy; a crisis in the development model; and negative impacts on the pillars of regional integration. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen An Ha presented some solutions and forecasts on the prospects of the EU and the EU currency in 2012. In addition, other opinions at the conference also addressed issues related to regional integration in Southeast Asia: the current state and prospects of ASEAN integration and linkage, ASEAN identity, and challenges to the process of building the ASEAN Political-Security Community...