These developments clearly show that we are not witnessing the creation of a “fortress Europe”. On the contrary, European integration complements global integration. 1  I should like to thank Malin Andersson for her input into this speech, Klaus Masuch and Hans-Joachim Klöckers for their helpful comments, and Philippe Leclercq, Katherine Brandt and Antonio Afonso for their additional contributions.
But as you have probably observed, Koreans have a long tradition of uniting as one in their efforts to overcome adversity. Korea brought about the “Miracle on the Han River”. It rose from the ashes of the Korean War and utter destitution to become a member of the so-called rich countries’ club of the OECD within less than half a century.