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.