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.