Transnational Workshop on EU Study for post doctors, Ph. D. Students, and senior graduate students hosted by EU Centre in Taiwan (EUTW) on February 22nd-23rd, 2011 at National Taiwan University

The Entry into effect of Lisbon Treaty put a victorious end to the EU Constitution-building movement in the past decade. Lisbon Treaty has not only integrated the ex-Community and Union into a new Union granted with legal personality but also created some very symbolic posts (e.g. Chair of European Council) and new institutions (e.g. European External Action Service). However, the financial tsunami and particularly the debt crisis in Greece have provoked, inside and outside of the EU, intensive debate over the future of Eurozone and even the value of European integration as a whole. The renewed structure imposed by Lisbon Treaty seems not be able to reduce the Euroskepticism and rekindle the general passion for European integration.

In Asia, the ASEAN-PRC FTA entered into effect on January 1st, 2010, marking a new era of transnational integration in the region, and the majority of Asian countries have been recovering from the economic recession ahead of their European and American counterparts. In June 2010, the PRC and Taiwan signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), symbolizing an important step towards general détente in the Taiwan Strait. But these optimistic developments were soon overshadowed by the emerging tensions and even conflicts throughout the region. The inter-Korean tensions never ceased to be increasing in the aftermath of tragic incident of SS Chonan. The PRC and US were in quarrels over the latter’s military maneuverings in Yellow Sea and South China Sea. Diplomatic tension broke out between Beijing and Tokyo immediately after Japan arrested Chinese fishing boats at the sea nearing Diaoyutai (Senkaku) Isles.

While the European integration is frustrated by the debt crisis and rising Euroskepticism, the still very young Asian integration also seems to be easily shaken by any potential conflicts in the region. Will the regional integration, often crowned by the EU experience, still be a valuable form of cooperation and reconciliation in international relations? Could Asians take some lessons from the EU experience in transnational integration? Will the EU and Asian countries still be able to develop fruitful and contributive inter-regional relations in this new and fast globalizing world?

All these questions will provide the basis of a two-day workshop to be held at the National Taiwan University on February 22nd and 23rd, 2011. This workshop is developed based upon the bilateral workshop for doctoral students on EU Studies between Korea and Japan in past years. EUTW will organize this workshop in 2011 for all Asian Pacific doctoral students and senior postgraduates (third grade or above) on the EU Study.

Papers are invited that address any of the above questions. Papers are welcome from Law, Political Science, History, European Studies and other disciplines – Interdisciplinary and theoretically- grounded approaches are also welcome. Accepted papers will be organized into panels, with the following themes likely to be included.
- The Future of European Integration (e.g. reforms in the Eurozone; new structure introduced by the Lisbon Treaty)
- European and Asian Integration in Comparison (ASEM in the new era)
- EU-Asian Relationship (EU’s Asian policies; European policies of Asian countries)

Graduate students are also welcome to attend the poster- session, introduce their research findings and interchange with the participants.

Contact details
The organizer of this workshop is Dr. Hungdah Su, executive director of EUTW and Jean Monnet Chair of National Taiwan University. For this event, he will be assisted by Mr. Tarco Chang (deputy executive director of EUTW).

Abstract (300-500 words) should be submitted to Mr. Chang (tarcochang@ntu.edu.tw). The deadline for submission of abstracts is November 12th, 2010. Information on acceptance of paper proposals will be communicated in mid-November 2010. Accepted papers (6000-8000 words) should be submitted to the conference organizer, Dr. Su, by 20 January 2011.