 EU delegation acting head |
Korea should share the burdens of global leadership with the European Union through the Seoul G20 Summit, said an EU representative.
“Korea is no longer a developing country — it’s an advanced economy chairing the G20 and we hope that Korea can show leadership,” Uwe Wissenbach, the acting head of the EU delegation to Korea, said in an interview Friday.
“There was some trepidation among some countries,” he said, “because Korea is a small country and hasn’t hosted such an event before. But the EU has, from the start, actively supported Korea in getting the chair for this year.”
He expects the chair position, as much as it is rewarding, to present challenges. “It will obviously (positively) affect Korea’s image in terms of its role in global affairs and Korea will gain respect from other countries. But I think it will also increase demands made of Korea in terms of shouldering the burdens of global leadership. We are confident that Korea will adopt more ambitious policies on global challenges.”
The German native emphasized how the EU recognized Korea’s ability to endorse the responsibility and thus “forged a strategic partnership with Korea,” referring to the recently signed bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
“The FTA will be a landmark for EU-Korea relations, which is the substance of the agreement, but it is also a clear, loud signal ahead of the G20 summit against protectionism to push for the resumption and conclusion of the final leap of the Doha development round.”
In addition to giving G20 countries a major political impulse, such as endorsing the Basel III accords, the Seoul event has much potential in pushing forth a better balanced world economy, particularly in light of the successful Gyeongju finance ministers meeting, he said.
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn called the Gyeongju session “a milestone in global economic governance,” as fears of currency wars died down. “I think it’s a good description in view of the summit and also a good stepping stone for the leaders to move forward the agenda at the Seoul summit,” said Wissenbach.
Issues that need to be discussed in Seoul include the harmonization of cross-border resolution regimes and global accounting standards as well as linking regional financial safety nets to make them all compatible with multinational institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The diplomat also maintained that the G20 is here to stay — “we are very much supporting the G20 process because it is more inclusive and more representative of the world economy.”
The EU, he said, has been doing its homework to push forward G20 agendas. “We’ve done a number of reforms in the financial market regulations, some of that has already been done while some are in the legislative process to be adopted by 2011. This is all very well on track.”
Wissenbach also noted that discussions are underway to reform the economic and fiscal governance of the eurozone. “It’s worthwhile to mention that the euro area, which is a single currency area, is in a rather balanced current account position. So it’s a significant factor in terms of stabilizing the world economy since we are the biggest economic and trade block in the world.”
Korea’s FTA with the giant economy is thus expected to revolutionize bilateral relations.
“The FTA we negotiated with Korea is probably the most ambitious FTA we’ve agreed on with any country, and its benefits are expected to double the trade between our countries. This is because Korea’s and EU’s economies are very complimentary, so there is a lot of gain on both sides, both for the vast majority of industry and service sectors as well as the consumers,” he said. “You can buy European wine cheaper.”
Moreover, the acting head said he wants to increase people-to-people exchanges. “It’s not about having more meetings between officials but it’s about adding substance, making progress on global, bilateral agendas such as climate change and education issues,” he said.
The delegation plans to open two more EU Centers in Korea, in addition to the one in Seoul and one in Busan.
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