The 45th Annual Conference Programme
November 2024, Asia University: Days and time will be announced in the first week of April.
Plenary Session: Exploring the role of the EU as a global standard-setter
Plenary Session I Japanese Session
Plenary Session II English Session
Symposium: The EU and the economic security
Exploring the role of the EU as a global standard-setter
Recent events such as Brexit and the Russian invasion of Ukraine seem to have revealed the EU’s weaknesses shown by economic populism and Euroskepticism in its Member States. Notwithstanding the above, the EU retains an influential, rule-making power over the global market. Its reach over rule-making has been observed to cover broad areas, including competition policy, environmental protection, food safety, privacy protection, and hate speech regulation. The mechanism of shaping this EU’s influential superpower in rule-making is such that it is naturally developed through the extraterritorial application of EU standards to multinational or foreign enterprises, or EU standards themselves mandate a country where such multinational or foreign enterprises are established to have the same level of EU standards. This can be symbolized by the term “the Brussels Effect.”
In the 2024 plenary session, we will discuss a wide range of issues around the EU’s global regulatory power, including the policy areas that are not sensitive enough to the Brussels Effect.
Symposium: The EU and the economic security
Against the backdrop of the US-China struggle for hegemony, strengthening economic security has become one of the most important agendas in many countries. The European Commission, following the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine, released the EU’s economic security strategy on 20 June 2023, which highlights that the setting up of a common strategic framework for the EU’s economic security is in pressing need, and this should be achieved by the maximization of the EU’s benefits of its economic openness as well as the minimization of the risks from economic interdependence. While some values are shared with G7 member countries, its unique strategy, such as regulating outbound investment by EU enterprises to a certain extent, is justified in ensuring its “strategic autonomy.” Undoubtedly, the future direction and development of the EU’s strategic framework for economic security will significantly impact the third countries, including Japan.
In this regard, the 2024 symposium will pursue various issues relevant to economic security in the EU and other areas of the world.