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| German Ambassador Rolf Mafael |
Ambassador Rolf Mafael said Germany seeks deeper regional integration so that the European Union (EU) can operate just as the federal and state governments of the United States do.
The German envoy predicted that it would take a decade or so for the EU to take another leap forward regarding regional integration.
"Over the past 50 years, EU members have tried hard to facilitate regional integration and these governments have transferred some of their powers to the regional bloc," he said during a lecture at the Daeshin High School in Seoul on Tuesday. "Now we are facing a call from within that the EU needs to stay here for the next ten years or so and then seek ways of achieving further integration afterwards."
He made the remarks when asked to answer the drawbacks of the regional bloc from one of the 60 students who attended his lecture in the school's hall.
The German ambassador's lecture was part of an EU public diplomacy program, titled "EU Goes to School" under which the ambassadors visit schools to give presentations about the regional bloc and their home countries to students.
His presentation at the Daeshin High School was his third in Seoul.
Unlike other EU ambassadors, Mafael gave his lecture in German and his speech was translated into Korean by a translator from the German Embassy.
He said he decided to speak in German because Korean students would have fewer opportunities to experience the German language compared with English.
Ambassador Mafael said that two key EU partners, Germany and France, are not on the same page regarding ways to take the EU to the next level and this is one of the reasons why a waiting game is necessary before the regional bloc attempts deeper integration.
"When we take a close look at the developments of the EU in the past five decades, we can see noticeable differences between the two nations regarding future developments of the bloc," he said.
"France has revealed strong patriotism and remained relatively reluctant to transfer more government powers to the EU. But Germany has sought to follow a regional integration model similar to the United States where federal and state governments have their own defined powers."
Division
The Pew Research Center surveys in 2009 and 2013 found differences between Germans and French people regarding their attitudes toward regional integration after the euro zone crisis.
The 2009 survey found that 43 percent of French people responded that EU regional integration strengthened their economy. The figure for Germans was 50 percent.
Figures from people in the two nations in 2013, however, demonstrated a wider gap between the two nations.
Only 22 percent of French people and 54 percent of Germans said yes to the same question, indicating growing skepticism about regional integration in France while Germany saw a rise in the opposite trend during the time period.
Ambassador Mafael said an increase of EU members in recent years has also facilitated the belief that its members had better take time before discussing the future of the EU.
He said that a full-blown debate is now underway from within over how to make sure EU member governments decide domestic policies.
"EU members are not allowed to make their own policies and we need to follow the decisions made by the EU parliament. In the areas of environment, energy and agricultural policies, for example, each member country needs to accept policies that were made at the EU parliament. The problem is that nationals of EU countries have a hard time understanding this process because it is the EU, not representatives they elected, that make such decisions which affect their lives."
Despite the differences, he noted that a consensus was built among nations that integration is the only way they can maintain or exert influence on the global stage.
Currently, the EU has 28 members. Last month, the EU signed trade and political agreements with Russia's three neighbors, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.
Those agreements call for the three sides to lower their trade barriers and facilitate political reforms.
To become EU members, applications from the three nations need to be accepted.
