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EUSA-JP 2023 Research Conference

The 43rd Annual Conference Programme

November 25-26, 2023, Aichi University

Plenary Session: Ukraine Issues and the EU

Plenary Session I 13:00-14:50    Japanese Session

Plenary Session II 15:30-17:45   English Session

Symposium: The Fiscal and Monetary Policies of EU and the Euro under the Energy Crisis


Ukraine Issues and the EU

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and as of the end of October 2022, there has been no sign of an end to the Ukrainian conflict and the future is uncertain. During this period, the EU has adopted various measures and published relevant documents. For example, the EU adopted economic sanctions, which were adopted during the Crimean conflict in 2014, and modified them to apply to the current conflict, adopting new measures as necessary. In addition, EU Member States provide assistance to Ukraine in the form of arms transfers, which, by Council decision, takes place under aid measures under the European Peace Facility (EPF). This means that the arms transfers are now an EU budgetary measure and not a constituent country measure. In addition, Sweden and Finland, which had adopted a policy of neutrality, have announced their intention to join NATO and have been accepted. This may lead to a significant advance in the EU’s Common Defense policy in the future. In addition, on April 8, 2022, Ukraine and Moldova were formally recognized as candidate countries for EU membership. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also had a major impact on energy issues. The European Commission announced in its REPower Plan that it will move forward with its previous policy roadmap to move away from energy dependence on Russia. Even before the invasion of Ukraine began, the EU had been pursuing a wide range of “strategic autonomy” initiatives, from security strategy to digital and cyber, to the Green Deal, and their importance has been increasingly highlighted in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, we would like to discuss the Ukraine issue and the EU, taking into account such a strategic autonomy.


The Fiscal and Monetary Policies of EU and the Euro under the Energy Crisis

The EU economy, which was on the path to recovery from the recession by the COVID-19 pandemic, is facing energy crisis caused by Russian invasion of Ukraine. In response to the economic sanctions by the EU, Russia takes to restrict energy exports. This has led to a sharp increase in energy prices. Therefore, EU member states are experiencing so-called supply shocks. In fact, the inflation rate in EU has jumped nearly 10%. The European Central Bank has made a significant shift from monetary easing to tightening. On the fiscal policy side, targeted support is being sought to prevent inflation. However, there is also a high risk that this could suppress the economy and exacerbate inequality among member states.

EUSAAP2023Conference

EUSA ASIA PACIFIC CONFERENCE 2023

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Thursday 29 & Friday 30 June 2023

Twenty-five Years of EU Studies in the Indo-Pacific: challenges, changes, prospects.

The 2023 EUSAAP annual conference and postgraduate workshop hosted by Chulalongkorn University and EUSA Thailand will celebrate and revisit the state of EU Studies within our region. This past quarter century has seen a number of frameworks introduced spanning from the ASEM format initiated in 1996 to the 2021 EU Indo-Pacific Strategy, and interspersed with the designation of four Indo-Pacific countries as EU Strategic Partners (Japan, Korea, China, India). This conference invites papers that explore these innovations and changing priorities embracing interdisciplinary perspectives – International Relations, Political Science, Law, Economics and History.

Here is the Conference Site

EUSA-JP 2022 Research Conference

The 43rd Annual Conference Programme

November 5-6, 2022, Tokyo Keizai University

Plenary Session: The Future of Europe and Civil Society

Plenary Session I 13:30-15:20 (Japanese Session): Presentation 30 min, Discussion 20 min

Plenary Session II 16:00-18:00 (English Session): Presentation 30 min, Discussion 20 min

Session open to the public (Japanese Session)

Symposium: EU and Gender


The Future of Europe and Civil Society

Covid-19 has a huge impact in the world. It has affected the EU and its Member States. The internal market at the core of the EU was also affected. Some countries reintroduced pre-Schengen border controls. The free movement of goods and persons was restricted at the beginning of the pandemic. Different measures were taken at national and EU level. While the Member States have taken their own measures to fight Covid-19, such as lockdowns, the EU has taken measures for example regarding approval and centralised of vaccines. The EU adopted the “NextGenerationEU” measure as recovery fund in order to recover from the covid-19 crisis. 

Currently, Europe, in particular countries Germany and France, is facing the time of transition. For example, in Germany the election took place in September 2021 and as a result so called “the traffic light coalition” was born after the CDU/CSU lost the vote. In France in April 2022 the presidential election will take place. 

 Furthermore, the European Commission launched the Conference on the Future of Europe which “will open a new space for debate with citizens to address Europe’s challenges and priorities”. In addition, climate litigation has occurred against the EU, the Member States and companies in Europe, where NGOs and young people are claimants. 

Covid-19 has provided an impetus for change in the EU. For this reason, EUSA-JP has decided to deal with the Future of Europe and Civil Society in the 2022 conference.        


Symposium: EU and Gender

This symposium is open to the public. We will discuss current topics related to gender and sexuality in the European Union. The panelists will be lawyers, political scientists, and economists. Gender equality and the rights of LGBTQ+ people have been discussed widely both in Japan and the EU. For example, the Sapporo regional court held that the non-acceptance of same sex marriage is incompatible with the Japanese Constitution. There is no specific measure regarding same sex marriage at EU level, but non-discrimination is one of the most important principles in the EU. However, in some EU countries, the rights of the LGBTQ+ community have not been accepted. In Hungary, a law was enacted which bans advertisements targeting minors from featuring LGBTQ+ people. The President of the European Commission and European leaders have criticised Hungary regarding this law. This is just one example of how the respect for diversity as an EU value is being shaken. The symposium will be an opportunity to discuss how to achieve gender equality in the EU. 

Annual EUSAAP Conference

New Directions, New Leadership in a post-Covid Environment

About this event

The conference will focus upon the renewal of the EU’s institutional leadership and the new priorities and challenges for the EU27 in a post-Covid-19 environment. Due to the current pandemic the conference will be in a hybrid format: virtually accessible globally, and a real-life component in Melbourne, Australia and Christchurch, New Zealand. Please register here to receive a link to the conference programme and links to further information.

EUSA-JP 2021 Research Conference

The conference of this year will take place on Zoom Webinar

Programme

Dates:

  • Day1 November 6, 2021:

    • Plenary 1:   Recovery Strategy for Europe after Covid-19: The Potential of the European Green Deal

  • Day2 November 7, 2021

    • Session A:   EU’s Free Movement Issues

    • Session B:   EU’s Business Environment

    • Session C:   The Current EU Politics

    • Plenary 2:   EU Global Strategy in the post-Brexit Era: the Restructuring of External Relations and the Vulnerability of Internal Relations

contact: usui@nuis.ac.jp