European Integration Legitimacy since the Euro-crisis and Lessons for East-Asian Cooperation

Abstract

This research assesses the feasibility of regional integration in EastAsia (China, South Korea and Japan), using the European integration precedent and in the light of the current Euro-crisis. We find that the main difference between Europe and EastAsia in terms of integration lies in the capacity of institutionalizing economic commitment. Such decision is often seen as an essentially top-down political move, but we demonstrate that citizens do have an influence on those choices, through a range of direct and indirect constraints on political decisions, based on their legitimacy perception. We conclude that EastAsia is unlikely to embark in institutionalized integration before a strong regional identity has emerged, which is likely to be a very lengthy process.Our study of regional integration legitimacy is therefore a concrete assessment of what criteria citizens base their perceptions upon when exerting these constraints. We address the relevance of the European construction experience for East Asias specificities, taking into account existing theoretical frameworks andhistorical phenomena, like the German economic reunification. We then harness this understanding to the current Euro-crisis by showing the limit of EUs gain-led legitimacy, and highlighting the need for strong regional identity prior to integration in both regions.