Belgium: A Discreet and Pragmatic Europhile Approach
Belgium has historically been a pro-European country. It depends on trade and foreign investment. As a small country, it benefits from being part of an institutional framework that balances the power of bigger Member States. The lack of a strong sense of national identity also helps to explain why there has been less reluctance to transfer competences to the EU.
The arrival of an explicitly conservative government ending a 24-year socialist presence in government could impair the general pro-EU consensus among elites in the country. Moreover, the change of tone by the nationalist conservative N-VA, which has become more eurosceptic, could also be consequential on the Belgium intellectual debate on the EU.
Solving the economic and social crisis is the first priority for Belgians. Several options would be supported including a bigger European budget, a common minimum income and a bolder EU investment policy. A greater involvement of citizens in the EU decision-making process would also help legitimise the EU further.
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Belgium: A Discreet and Pragmatic Europhile Approach
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Asia is a nerve center for multiple global economic, political and security challenges. The Center for Asian Studies provides documented expertise and a platform for discussion on Asian issues to accompany decision makers and explain and contextualize developments in the region for the sake of a larger public dialogue.
The Center's research is organized along two major axes: relations between Asia's major powers and the rest of the world; and internal economic and social dynamics of Asian countries. The Center's research focuses primarily on China, Japan, India, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, but also covers Southeast Asia, the Korean peninsula and the Pacific Islands.
The Centre for Asian Studies maintains close institutional links with counterpart research institutes in Europe and Asia, and its researchers regularly carry out fieldwork in the region.
The Center organizes closed-door roundtables, expert-level seminars and a number of public events, including an Annual Conference, that welcome experts from Asia, Europe and the United States. The work of Center’s researchers, as well as that of their partners, is regularly published in the Center’s electronic journal Asie.Visions.
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