Press Release | Announcement | EUROPEAN UNION CENTRE in TAIWAN

On 28th and 29th June, more than one hundred scholars, experts and students from around the world had joined the 2018 European Union Studies Association Asia Pacific Conference: The Future of the EU and European Integration in the Aftermath of Crises. Cohosted by the European Union Studies Association Asia Pacific (EUSA AP), European Community Studies Association Taiwan (ECSA Taiwan), European Union Centre in Taiwan (EUTW) and EU Centre of Excellence, NTU, the two-day conference offered the participants a gateway to explore the future development of Europe through cultural exchanges and academic conversations from various perspectives. In his welcome remarks, Dr. Ching-Ray Chang, Executive Vice-President of National Taiwan University, said that this annual conference was held just in time with the 90th anniversary celebration of NTU, where the two occasions together have witnessed the achievement of Taiwan’s dedication in higher education and effort in promoting European studies.

Dr. Hungdah Su, the President of EUSA AP, Director General for EUTW and ECSA Taiwan, said in the keynote speech that “with years of preparation and active participation, ECSA Taiwan has finally became an official member of the EUSA AP in 2015. In order to deepen the academic exchange between Taiwan and Asia Pacific on studies of European Union and Europe, the Association had started persistently seeking to host the annual conference three years ago. This year, the EUSA AP annual conference is being hosted in Taiwan for the first time ever showcased a new milestone in our determination in promoting European studies.”

This year’s conference has gotten major support and overwhelming submissions by scholars and postgraduate students from the Asia Pacific and our counterparts in the West. More than a hundred papers on numerous topics, including EU Diplomatic and Security Policy, EU Intra-Organizational Development, EU Governance, EU Free Trade Strategies, and Eurasia Relations and Education Exchange, were presented in a total of 24 different workshops. Furthermore, different from the previous years, this year’s event featured a special roundtable discussion on the development of European studies in Asia Pacific with panelists representing five different countries in the region. The scholars shared their experiences on creating the EU research community, and the journeys on promoting Eurasia cultural exchanges back home.

In order to showcase our students’ versatile backgrounds in both academics and musical talents, the organizers arranged a special harp performance played by Tiffany Chen, an undergraduate students in European Studies program in NTU. Her performance not only reflected Europe’s spirits of diversity and inclusiveness, but also her superb techniques has earned her high praises from all of our guests. Dr. Martin Holland, the Secretary General of EUSA AP, stressed that the organizers in Taiwan have set an exceptionally high standard in hosting the annual conference this time.

To encourage more students to join the field of European studies, the organizers of EUSA AP had specially organized five PG session workshops with the goal to engage in further academic exchanges between both postgraduate and doctoral students. Also a special feature in this year’s conference, student with the best paper chosen in each PG session was rewarded with an honorary certificate, and special souvenirs from NTU’s Yelin Cabins.

Since the EUSA AP was first established in 1999, it has become not only the leader in EU studies, but also the only multinational academic organization in the Asia Pacific region. Its members has covered all across Asia, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Macau, New Zealand, Taiwan and Thailand. Starting from 2003, the annual conference is held in different member states, where the funding of the event is subsidized by the EU Monnet Project to promote the level of importance in continuing the academic conversations among scholars and experts.