EU–China relations in higher education

The internationalization of higher education systems has become critical to the educational success of a country. The purpose of this research is to carry out a study of the growing pace of internationalization in Chinese higher education in the contemporary period. The research focuses on the cooperation between China and Europe, especially the management of transnational projects related to improving collaboration between Chinese and European institutions of higher education. The move to mass higher education in the Chinese context and its implications stand as the starting point of the investigation. The project aims to analyze the main national policies for enhancing the internationalization of higher education both in China and Europe. Then, taking as examples some projects of particular relevance, it will consider the objectives and the consequences of these forms of cooperation and collaboration, especially for the development of the Chinese higher education system. Finally, a concise historical overview of the relations in higher education between China and Europe in the last 20 years will facilitate understanding of the changing role played by Europe in the Chinese context.     

Transformation of the roles of social partners through EU governance

The EC/EU institution-building has changed the preferences, interests and ideas of the social partners, and thus attracted them into the “European social policy community”. Under the “Community method”, the traditional mode of EU governance, the social partners developed social dialogues, participated in the Tripartite Conferences and provided consultations for legislation. Along with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the social partners at the EU level have gained the right to participate directly into the legislating procedure recurring to social partnership. Under the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), the new mode of EU governance, the social partners, together with the civil society, are playing pivotal roles in the formulation, implementation, and overseeing EU policies. This paper intends to make a detailed analysis of the different roles played by the social partners under the three types of decision-making mechanisms, that is, the normal legislating procedure, the social partnership procedure and the OMC, thus trying to illustrate some of the characteristics of EU governance.     

美国对欧盟政策的演变及其影响

美国与欧盟是以美国为首的北大西洋公约集团的盟国.美国对欧盟的基本对策目标是始终保持美国主导下的美欧政治、军事同盟关系.随着国际形势和美欧关系的变化,美国对欧盟的政策经历了多次阶段性的调整和变化.其总体趋势是美国对欧盟政策的负面因素愈益突出,促使美欧关系愈益趋于松散.     

Shaping factors of EU–East Asia relations

Six shaping factors will determine the short-to-medium term outlook for East Asia. Two of these are geo-political flashpoints, with implications beyond the region—North Korea and China–Taiwan cross-strait relations. For both of these at least some logic of a’ solution’ will need to be worked out. Intra-regional tensions between China, the fastest growing economy in the world, and Japan, the second largest economy in the world, will need accommodation and compromise. Fourthly, the relationship between the US and China remains ambivalent, veering between strategic partnership and strategic competition. Long term stability in the region will require that the US–China relationship becomes more predictable, which will only be possible if both players define their long-term interests innovatively and in different ways. Probably the most important shaping factor for the region is the domestic political economy of China. The nexus between Chinese economic growth and its domestic political stability needs to remain in tact—without economic growth no political stability, while stability is a precondition for continued growth. These five shaping factors together will determine the scope of multi-lateral problem-solving frameworks for the region. The Kuala Lumpur first East Asia Summit has shown the determination of leaders in the region to co-ordinate, share information and exchange views. However, the decision not to go beyond the current institutional set-up and to retain ASEAN’s centrality points to a continuation of the present ‘shallow’ integration for some time to come.     

The diversification discourse of Russia and its energy relations with the EU

Asia Europe Journal - The article explores the energy security relations between the Russian Federation and the European Union. The focus, however, is not on the technical and institutional aspects...     

美欧对RCEP的地缘经济认知及其政策调整

从谈判到签署,RCEP背后不仅蕴含成员国之间的地缘经济博弈,更牵涉到美国、欧盟这两个世界上最大经济体的政经利益.美国将RCEP视为对其全球经济领导地位的威胁,为此可能调整亚太政策,加强高新技术发展,通过共同价值观联合盟友,巩固其霸权地位.欧盟将RCEP视为全球经济权力结构改变的象征和RCEP成员国支持多边主义的信号,未来在与中国保持经贸合作的同时可能开展制度竞争,与美国谨慎联合,大力提升内部产业及技术标准,实现所谓的"开放性战略自主".为推动RCEP顺利落实,中国应洞悉美欧的利益关切和政策调整方向,通过价值链调整与国际制度合作引导建立中美竞争性合作关系,推进与欧洲合作,从而在中美欧战略三角关系中占据有利位置.     

EU trade relations with Emerging Asia: identifying the issues

Trade interdependence between Europe and Asia has rapidly increased in recent years. Europe–Asia trade flows now constitute a ‘third link’ in the global economy. As trade expands, however, global trade governance has declined and free trade agreements (FTAs) have increased. Hence, the Global Europe strategy has been designed to enhance trade relations with emerging Asia which is the most dynamic region in the global economy today. But Asia’s model of export led growth leaves it more exposed to shocks emanating from outside the region than ever before raising questions about its sustainability. Deep integration agreements between Europe and Asia are needed to foster economic growth. They also need a development dimension to help Asian countries address their key development challenges. Brigid Gavin was the Research Coordinator of the workshop on ‘Deep Integration and North–South Free Trade Agreements: EU Strategy for a Global Economy’ which provided the papers and discussion forum for the articles in this special edition. The workshop took place at the United Nations University-Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) centre in Bruges, Belgium on 19–20 June, 2008. She wishes to express her thanks to Mr Luk Van Langenhove, Director of UNU-CRIS for financial support and to all the authors and participants in the workshop for their contribution to making this project a real success. A special word of thanks goes to Lars Nilsson, Chief Economist Unit, DG Trade, European Commission for his opening presentation to the workshop. Alice Sindzingre is Research Fellow, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), University of Paris and Visiting Lecturer at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. This analysis draws from her paper ‘The EU Economic Partnership Agreements with Africa’ which she presented at the workshop and available on the UNU-CRIS website.

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Interregional relations and legitimacy in global governance: the EU in ASEM

This article explores the ramifications of the European Union’s (EU) internal legitimacy debate for its external relations. It applies the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) as a case study to examine the EU’s attempts to promote legitimacy in global governance, more specifically in interregional institutions. The article’s theoretical framework draws from the EU’s legitimacy debate. It identifies three key sources of legitimacy, namely, (i) input legitimacy or democratic control and accountability, (ii) output legitimacy or performance and achievement of core purposes, and (iii) the degree of common identity as externalised through collective representation and the articulation of shared norms and values. The empirical analysis thereafter leads to three observations. First, the EU’s presence has contributed to an increased democratic involvement by ASEM’s different stakeholders including parliaments and civil society. Second, purely from an institutional legitimacy perspective ASEM achieves its purpose as a forum to ‘constructively engage’ with Asian countries and address issues relating to global governance. Third, ASEM reveals the EU’s dual identity as an intergovernmental grouping and an organisation with a gradually increasing capacity of collective representation. However, the advancement of the EU’s normative objectives through ASEM has been problematic, leading to a more interest-based and pragmatic policy path. The article concludes that the EU’s legitimacy debate has had a bearing on relations with Asia and, in particular, with ASEM. Importantly, and given the EU’s setbacks, some elements of the ‘EU’s way’ have proven successful in promoting democratic notions of legitimacy beyond the state.     

EU enlargement and the rise of Asian FTAs: Implications for Asia-Europe relations

  Over the past few years, there has been resurgence in regionalism and preferential trade across the global economic system. The European Union has taken steps at enlargement of their economic community to include countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Bilateral trade arrangements are proliferating in Asia involving the region's largest economies Japan and China. These arrangements mirror similar initiatives in the Americas. These developments have profound implications on the world trading system, in general, and to Asia-Europe relations in particular. The rise of preferentialism runs the risk of heightened discrimination, trade diversion and the fragmentation of the multilateral trade order. This prospect will have a direct impact on the future relations between Asia and Europe. Both Europe and Asia should remain outward oriented, open to reciprocal arrangements with non-member economies, and supportive of the multilateral trading system.     

How far Is the normalization of relations between Cuba and US

Some new changes have taken place in Cuba-US relationship, since President Obama took office. In April this year, the US government announced the removal of restrictions on remittance from American citizens （with Cuban origin） to their relatives in Cuba, and began to allow American telecom companies to enter into Cuba＇s market of telecom network construction and satellite broadcasting service. In June, after the Organization of American States （OAS） abrogated a resolution that expelled Cuba in 1962,     

Chinese direct investment in the EU and the US: a comparative view

Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in developed economies has increased substantially in recent years, driven by policy liberalization and structural adjustments in China’s economy. Efforts to accurately describe the dimensions of this increase are complicated by problems with official statistics and the complexity of deal structures. This article introduces the major problems of capturing data on global cross-border investment flows and elaborates on the particular difficulties of measuring Chinese outward FDI. It identifies alternative datasets that can help to better capture the scope and patterns of the Chinese overseas investment and uses one of them to describe the growth of Chinese investment in the EU and the US since 2000, highlighting similarities and differences in investment patterns in the world’s two biggest economies.     

Limits to deep integration: Canada between the EU and the US1

Abstract

Twenty-five years ago, as preferential trade agreements started to proliferate, Jagdish Bhagwati sounded the ‘spaghetti bowl’ alarm, arguing that the ensuing complexity would create inefficiencies in the international system and challenges for firms navigating overlapping rules. This article seeks to update and complement Bhagwati’s thesis by asking if proliferating ‘deep’ trade agreements add a new dimension of complexity to this picture. This article shows that the early answer to this question is ‘not yet’, as governments have discovered that prospective conflicts with existing or simultaneous commitments limit just how deep the provisions of an agreement can be. Governments managing multiple deep agreements play a variation on Putnam’s two-level game. As Putnam theorized, these governments reconcile domestic interests with international opportunities in formulating their strategies. However, ensuring compatibility across various, sometimes competing international opportunities is also a key consideration. Canada’s concurrent participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) provides a crucial exploratory case study.     

美欧博弈中东"民主化"及其影响

美欧在"民主改造"中东的问题上愿景一致,但实际利益有别,导致博弈方略显现分歧,收效不同.尽管如此,双方仍坚持各自计划.由于中东地区形势复杂,各种矛盾交错,局势动荡不安,故美欧博弈将对地区形势造成深刻影响.     

Inter-Korean cooperation in the fisheries industry: modeling trust and peace building on the ECSC

The predecessor of the European Union (EU), the European Coal and Steel Community, was successful in its dual goal of providing peace and prosperity to the European subcontinent in large part because its institutions fostered enduring relations between government officials. Mirroring the European focus on coal and steel, this paper suggests inter-Korean cooperation in the fisheries industry. The Yellow Sea border and the disputed Northern Limit Line has been the scene of deadly clashes between the two Koreas. Cooperation in the fisheries industry would provide economic benefits while it can build trusting relations between the two Koreas as a necessary condition for political cooperation. As coal and steel were only a start for the EU, and implemented clearly with greater political goals in mind, so can the integration of the fishery industries provide a similar starting point in the search for peace and security for the Korean peninsula.