How far Asia-Pacific economic integration should go from the perspective of the EU

Introduction to Research by Professor Katsuhiro Shoji, Keio University Law School
How far Asia-Pacific economic integration should go from the perspective of the EU
At Keio University Law School, Professor Katsuhiro Shoji is looking at economic globalization, or international economic integration, which has been so far treated as a given. Professor Shoji is researching how the scope of international economic integration should be decided in terms of law and policy.

"My starting point is to consider what kind of frameworks and arrangements are necessary when several sovereign states have formed close economic ties. The EU has built up the most advanced framework for cooperation between sovereign states. Meanwhile, thinking about what Japan should do, it appears that Japan is more or less behind the global trend of economic competition through FTAs. So, I perceive the issue as: What should Japan do to pursue optimal forms of economic cooperation, while catching up with the global trend?"

In Professor Shoji's research, the main interest is in defining an “international economic integration triangle”, and in applying it to the Asia-Pacific region, using the EU as a benchmark.
The “international economic integration triangle" is the hypothesis, suggested by a famous American economist, Dani Rodrik, that it is impossible to simultaneously achieve the three goals of international economic integration, state sovereignty, and democracy. Based on that hypothesis, Professor Shoji is doing a far-reaching research on the FTA strategy Japan is currently pursuing, and how something like a democratic union with the US and other countries can be achieved through the application of that strategy to the TPP.

"The values of the EU are democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Consequently, unless a country respects these values, it can't join the EU. If we ask whether they can be shared in the Asia-Pacific region, I think the answer is: Not necessarily so, as the countries in this region differ in various ways. So, assuming we remove that prerequisite, the issue is: Even if integration can't progress at the same level of the EU, how far can international economic integration be achieved in a situation where countries don't have common values? I think to what extent markets and economic policies can be shared might become an interesting ‘thought experiment’."

Professor Shoji has awarded a Jean Monnet Chair, an appointment for people with outstanding achievements in EU research. In Japan so far, only six people have earned a Jean Monnet Chair, and in the field of law, only Professor Shoji has received this accolade.

From now on, Professor Shoji intends to pursue his research on international economic integration further, and “feed back” the results, to suggest appropriate ways of achieving economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region and optimal FTA strategies for Japan.

“The first thing to do is to make historical research on European integration. The next phase is to do case study research on about five or six remarkable areas of the EU integration, including both successful and failed cases, like competition law, telecommunications market and personal data protection. And it is necessary to examine how to apply the principle of subsidiarity in each case. At the same time, unless we clarify what adjustments have to be made when those cases are applied to the Asia-Pacific region, we’ll end up jumping to simplistic conclusions like saying “the EU does this, therefore we should do it, too.” So, I’d like to explore how we can apply the EU’s experiences to our region in terms of law and policy, taking a more nuanced approach.”

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