From the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement, international gatherings are becoming more frequent. By cooperating on the climate agenda and the transition towards cleaner energy, there is no doubt that China and the EU are key actors in setting the path towards a global greener future. The main question is: how?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the self-regulating mechanism by which businesses ensure to comply with globally agreed upon ethical norms and standards, and engage in actions for wider social benefit, such as acts to mitigate their impact on the environment, improving the labour conditions of the workforce or giving back to the community within which they operate.
South Korea’s presidential election is scheduled to be held on 9 March 2022. The two major parties, the ruling liberal Democratic Party (DP) and the conservative People Power Party (PPP), nominated their presidential candidates, both of whom have no legislative experience in the National Assembly. The former Gyeonggi Province Governor, Lee Jae-Myung, was nominated by the DP to succeed incumbent President Moon Jae-In, and the former Prosecutor-General, Yoon Suk-Yeol, was nominated by the PPP (opposition camp) to rebrand the party following the 2017 impeachment of former President Park Geun-Hye.
The EU is redefining their position in the international world order through their Indo-Pacific Plan. In this respect, on 22 February 2022, European and Indo-Pacific representatives for foreign affairs and security policy are set to meet in Paris for the Indo-Pacific Forum.
With the official election of Olaf Scholz as the new German Chancellor by the newly constituted parliament (the Bundestag) on 8 December 2021, the 16-year-long era of Angela Merkel as head of the German government came to an end. Along with Merkel’s farewell ended the governing role of her conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), after achieving a record low of voter shares in the September 2021 parliamentary elections.
The 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) took place on 25-26 November 2021 via videoconference under the theme “strengthening multilateralism for shared growth”. ASEM has major untapped potential but remains a valuable platform for dialogue and the exchange of information for its members.
On 1 December 2021, the EU launched its brand new infrastructural development scheme – “The Global Gateway”. By pledging to mobilise up to 300 billion EUR in investments by 2027, the EU is adding significant firepower to its toolkit of economic statecraft.
In view of the growing tensions and most recent developments in Lithuania’s relations with China, this op-ed assesses the causes of their current dispute, related EU perspectives and the potential for a 27+1 approach towards China.
In September 2021, EU Commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, visited Japan and South Korea to corral international support for the ‘EU Chips Act’, a strategy aimed at enhancing European production capacity and research in the field.