Transcript Slide 1

National Centre for Research
on Europe
Otago University Presentation
7 September, 2004
 Background and Activities
 Student Support
Opportunities
 Future Directions
National Centre for Research on Europe
•
Objectives: to…
– Promote multi-disciplinary research on the EU that brings
together practitioners, graduates, post-doctoral fellows and
academics
– Develop a new generation of NZ graduates with EU
expertise
– Engage in policy-driven research, melding academic work
with practical requirements
– Perform a wider societal role and serve as an element in the
EU’s outreach within New Zealand and the Pacific
– Raise critical awareness of the EU, informing government,
the media and public opinion
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Origins
– Established in 2000 as UC Centre for Research on
Europe
– Became National Centre for Research on Europe in
2003
• Governance
– Advisory Board
• Internal
• External (MFAT, EU Commission, EU Presidency, 4 NZ
Universities)
• Business Advisory Group (Fonterra, Meat, Seafood, IT
Industries)
National Centre for Research on Europe
•
Funding
1. Core
•
•
•
•
EU - Commission establishment grant 2003-5 (€238,000)
EU - Jean Monnet Chair/ modules 2002-4 (€27,000)
EU - Jean Monnet Centre of Excelence 2005-7 (€30,000)
UC - VC’s new initiative fund 2000-2 (NZ$150,000)
Total Core grant income since 2000
EU €295,000
UC $150,000
2. Research projects
•
•
•
•
•
•
EU - 2004-5 EU Asia Pacific Identity research grant (€144,000)
EU - 2002 EU Pacific Trade Workshop Grant (€30,000)
EU - 2002 EU NZ Public Opinion Survey grant (€25,000)
UC - 2004-6 UC Post-doc ( $100,000 - EU enlargement and NZ – Dr Gibbons)
UC - 2003-5 UC Post-doc ($100,000 - EU-Pacific relations – Dr. Koloamatangi)
UC - 2002-4 UC Post-doc ($100,000 - EU Perceptions in NZ – Dr. Chaban)
Total Research project income since 2000
EU €199,000
UC $300,000
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Activities
•
Europa Lecture series
–
–
–
–
•
2001 Terry Wynn, MEP
2002 Helen Clark, PM
2003 Chris Patten, Commissioner
2004 Margaret Beckett, UK Minister
Visiting Fellows 2004
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Fraser Cameron – European Policy Centre, Brussels
Jörg Drews, Bielfeld
Reinhardt Rummel – Stiftung Wissenshaft une Politik, Berlin
Martin Sajdik, Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna
Heribert Weiland, Development Studies Institute, Freiburg
Mark Pittaway, Open University
Stephen Dearden, Manchester Metropolitan University
Allan Williams, Exeter University
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Activities
•
Weekly Roundtable Seminars
–
–
–
–
•
Visiting Fellows
NCRE Staff
NCRE Thesis Students
Visiting Ambassadors
Conferences
– Technologies, Publics and Power, Akaroa, February 1-5 2004
– Outside Looking In: multidisciplinary perspectives on the EU from
the Asia-Pacific region, Christchurch Arts Centre, 9-11 September
2004
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Upcoming Conference: “Outside Looking
In”
•
Including:
–
–
–
•
Keynote Speech by Garret FitzGerald, former Irish Prime Minister
EU Diplomatic Roundtable: State of the EU: reflections on 2004
Twenty six papers scheduled to be delivered
Sample papers include:
–
–
–
–
–
Kenneth Chan, Hong Kong Baptist University. There Is No Alternative?
Central and Eastern Europe in the 2004 European Parliament Elections
Rajendra Jain, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. India and an Enlarging
European Union
Apirat Petchsiri, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Legal Based
Regional Integration
Jikang Zhang, Fudan University, China. The Recent Economic Impacts
on Chinese Economy of EMU and EU's Enlargement
Katherine Vadura, University of South Australia. The European Union,
enlargement and integrating security and human rights
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Student Support
– Scholarships - $60,000 for fees and research grants in 2004
– MA and PhD support:
• Designated EU Research Topics
• National Post-Graduate Scholarships and Awards
• NCRE Research Awards
– Honours support:
• European Studies Honours
Degree
National Centre for Research on Europe
•
Designated EU Research
Topics
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
The development of an EU Foreign Service
EU Common Foreign Policy
EU-Pacific relations
EU-NZ relations
EU-NZ migration
The next wave of EU enlargement
The EU constitutional reform
EU economic and financial policies
EU humanitarian issues
EU public opinion
NZ media, public opinion and EU identity
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Student Support
– Internships – two 3-month internships in the European
Parliament awarded annually
•
–
one open to any student enrolled at a tertiary
institution in New Zealand other than the
University of Canterbury
• one open to any student enrolled at the
University of Canterbury
This programme forms part of the National
Centre for Research on Europe’s wider
objective to increase New Zealanders’
awareness and understanding of the
European Union. The internships are
designed to provide post-graduates with
an opportunity to experience working for
an MEP as well as to assist their own research.
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Student Support
– European Exchanges
– NCRE teaches the only Honours degree in European
Studies available in NZ
– NCRE supervises Masters and PhD degrees in European/
EU Studies
– Graduate EU research training workshops
– Graduate conferences
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Summer School Courses
•
•
•
•
•
EURO 220: European Union Negotiations: Actors, Processes, I
nstitutions
EURO 221: The European Union and the Wider World: Patterns
and Policies
EURO 222: The Rise and Fall of Soviet Domination in Eastern
Europe
1944-1991
EURO 223: Remaking the New Europe
EURO 224: Economic Development of
Europe
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Current Graduate theses supervised
– Some examples
– MA
• Steve Thomas "A Regionally Integrated Pacific: Evaluating Regionalism
in the Pacific under the Post-Cotonou Agreement Process"
• Tamsin Rouse “The Challenge of Babel: Languages and the European
Project”
• Richard Thornton “Small State Theory and New Zealand’s Relationship
with the European Union”
• Rosie Tipples “Half a World Away: contemporary European migration to
New Zealand”
• Jessica Bain “Images of Europe: Representations of the EU in New
Zealand Television News”
• Abel Reyna-Rivera “EU Enlargement and its economic implications for
new members”
• Lucy Cassels “An Evolving International Presence: Europe as a Pacific
Development Actor”
• Jeanine Begg “An Analysis of the Nature of Relations Between the
European union and Japan”
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Current Graduate theses supervised
– Some examples
– PhD
• Mat Doidge “The European Union and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations: Inter- and Transregional Relations in a Globalising
World”
• Frendehl Nabong "Asylum and border control in the EU“
• Palm Pratoomtip “The effects of the EU enlargement on the EU and
Thai political and economic relations”
• Pete Mayell “Reading Between the Li(n)es: A Critical Geopolitics of
‘9/11’ and the ‘War on Terrorism’ ”
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Current Major Research Projects
– EU Identity in New Zealand
• Dr. Natalia Chaban (2002-4)
– EU-Pacific Policy
• Dr. Malakai Koloamatangi (2003-5)
– EU Enlargement and New Zealand
• Dr. Matthew Gibbons/Dr. Milenko Petrovic (2004 - )
– EU Financial Reporting & New Zealand
• Alan Roberts (2003 - )
– EU Identity in the Asia-Pacific Region
• Dr. Natalia Chaban (2004 -6)
– EU Knowledge Wave Migration to NZ
• Prof. Allan Williams (2005 - )
• Project details: www.europe.canterbury.ac.nz
National Centre for Research on Europe
• The Wider Role of the NCRE
–
–
–
–
Links to NZ Brussels Mission and MFAT
EU and Outreach
Media commentary
Possible development of a formal calendar for NCRESelect Committee meetings and facilitate NCRE visiting
Fellows to brief the committee
National Centre for Research on Europe
– University Charter and Interim Profile 2004-6
“The special character of the UC is reflected in….The
specialist focus of many of our research centres, particularly …
the National Centre for Research on Europe” (Section 2, page
5).
– European Commission 2004 Briefing papers
“Student and staff exchanges under the auspices of the
NCRE are an important part of the academic connections
between NZ and the EU. Both sides recognise the contribution
made by the Centre.”
“The NCRE despite its relatively modest means has
managed to implement a wide array of activities … The Centre
has been able to establish, nation-wide, a fair reputation as an
independent and authoritative commentator on EU affairs.”
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Future Challenges and opportunities
– New EU grant 2005-8
– Extending the NCRE national network …
– Continuing EU-NZ outreach – media, Europa Lectures,
interns
– Defining new research areas
– NZ Business support
– Accessing NZ Government support ( modelled on Asia2000
or the Pacific Cooperation Foundation) to stimulate the
“competition of ideas” vis-à-vis NZ policy towards the EU
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Public, Elite and Media Perceptions
of the EU in Asia Pacific Region
–
–
–
–
Australia
New Zealand
South Korea
Thailand
• a comparative study
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Comparative analysis of the news media agenda on the
EU
• Comparative analysis of the general public agenda on the
EU
• Comparative analysis of the policy and decision makers
agenda on the EU
• Comparative analysis of the aggregated results
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Goal:
– to identify, measure and raise public awareness and
extend knowledge of the European Union within four
countries of the Asia-Pacific region – Australia, New
Zealand, South Korea, and Thailand
• Outputs:
– access to unique databases of resources
– publications
– broad public outreach
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Implications for New Zealand of EU
enlargement, and how NZ should deal with
EU enlargement
– The 10 acceding countries will become richer. Past
experience in Europe shows that this will create
opportunities for NZ exporters
– The acceding countries can produce goods NZ needs,
such as railway equipment
– Enlargement has prompted CAP reform. In the shortterm this will reduce prices for agricultural goods in
Europe, but will have long-term benefits for NZ
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Recommendations
– New Zealand’s diplomatic resources in Europe are
thinly stretched, and may need reinforcing
– Other ties with Europe also need strengthening: NZ
has tended to downplay the importance of Europe in
recent years
– NZ exporters need to take up available opportunities.
Trade with the new EU members is currently very low
– Project runs April 2004-April 2006. A conference for
next year is planned, and a book will be finished in
2006
National Centre for Research on Europe
NZ's exports to the EU-15 in 2003 values
9
8
6
EU-15
January 1993, single market begins
5
4
United Kingdom
3
2
EU-15 excluding UK
1
Years
20
03
20
01
19
99
19
97
19
95
19
93
19
91
19
89
19
87
19
85
19
83
19
81
19
79
19
77
19
75
19
73
19
71
19
69
19
67
19
65
19
63
19
61
19
59
0
19
57
Billions of dollars in 2003 values
7
National Centre for Research on Europe
An evaluation of the political aspects of the
European Union’s Economic Partnership
Agreements: legitimacy, structural capacity
and regional integration in the Pacific
Why legitimacy?
– This includes examining standards of good governance,
democracy, rule of law, protection and promotion of human
rights, plus other elements which make for democratic,
inclusive and effective government
– This is set against Pacific realities
– One of the key questions here is whether current models of
democracy-development are relevant to the Pacific, and if
not, how do we construct applicable alternatives?
National Centre for Research on Europe
Why structural-institutional capacity?
– Development strategies will only work if there is capacity to
implement them
– A key question: how can local capacities improve to the
point where they eliminate the need for overseas
consultants?
Why regional integration?
– EU’s preference
– Already tendency towards greater cooperation in PACER,
PICTA and Pacific Plan
– Individual nations lack resources, both human and physical,
for greater economic development
National Centre for Research on Europe
Some findings to date
– Democratic systems, systems of rule, need to be
‘indigenised’
– Almost all nations attempt to accommodate local cultural
precepts with imported ideas, for example, judicial systems
– Almost all nations lack capacity for greater development
– Most nations reject greater political integration
– The free trade area idea is still problematic
– EU is generally well perceived
Outcome
–
–
–
–
–
Conference presentations
Articles
Major conference on EU-Pacific relations
Book-length study at the end
Practical recommendations to interested parties such as EU,
Pacific Islands Forum, individual countries and organisations
National Centre for Research on Europe
• Suggestions for a Select Committee Policy
Review of EU-NZ relations 2005 –
– Rebalance small/large state perspective in NZ’s relations
– Moving beyond the UK leverage
– Formulate a new political-based relationship to complement the
post WTO Doha Trade agreements
– Thinking ahead to the next wave of enlargement 2007-10
– Evaluating EU-NZ foreign policy parallels
– Facilitating EU “knowledge wave” migration
– Schengen border-control & free movement – the Swiss approach?
– Enhanced exchanges – educational, parliamentary, bureaucratic
– Invisibility of 1950-2004 EU integration in School curriculum
– Improvement in quality of EU reporting in NZ media
– Explore a new and inclusive EU-Pacific dialogue framework (similar
to ASEM, EU-MERCUSOR, etc)
– Extend current EU-NZ development cooperation in the Pacific