Brussels, 07/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The leaders of the European Union and Japan met in Brussels on Wednesday 7 May and pledged to speed up the bilateral free-trade talks and promote greater cooperation on security issues.
The 22nd EU-Japan summit is the final stage of the nine-day European tour of Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and allowed progress to be measured in the trade talks that began in April 2013 for a strategic partnership covering political dialogue, cooperation on regional issues and global challenges and sector-specific cooperation, along with a free-trade deal covering the full range of trade questions.
After the meeting, the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said that, if progress after a year of talks makes it possible, the two sides should raise their ambitions and bring the talks to a rapid conclusion because a more open market will be beneficial for trade and growth in the wider global economy. Abe said they wanted to reach agreement as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of 2015. His European tour took him to Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and France before his arrival in Brussels and served as a campaign to promote the trade agreement.
The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, called for the speed of negotiations to be accelerated, but said that a high level of ambition was needed in all areas, particularly access to the market for goods and farm products, non-tariff measures, public procurement and geographic indications. He said that this was the only way to win the highest number of advantages for both sides and he hoped both would do their utmost to achieve this high level of ambition.
The EU will decide by the end of May (based on a report by the Commission) whether Japan has done enough to lift non-tariff barriers to trade before deciding whether to continue (or suspend) the trade talks. The European negotiators require Japan to parallel the EU's tariff liberalisation offer by making similar concessions on exports of Japanese cars and the lifting of non-trade barriers, which can take the form in Japan of very high safety and certification standards that protect a number of markets, such as cars, railways, medicines and food. The European Commission will give a taste of its report at the Council of EU Trade Ministers on 8 May.
“An ever more unpredictable world”. The future strategic partnership between the EU and its second biggest trading partner in Asia has got off to a good start. Van Rompuy said they had managed to breathe new life into their strategic partnership and coordinate their positions on important regional and global issues. Alongside trade questions, EU and Japanese leaders decided to boost cooperation in areas like cyber security, R&D, innovation and energy. Crucially, the summit provided an opportunity to give an impetus to closer cooperation between the two sides on peace and security questions.
On Wednesday, Japanese and EU leaders identified areas where Japan will tangibly cooperate with the EU on civilian management of crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. The parties agreed to carry out a joint exercise involving EUNAVFOR Atalanta and the Japanese navy to tackle piracy in the Indian Ocean. Van Rompuy said these were very promising steps and he hoped they would lead to full Japanese involvement in future EU crisis management operations.
Abe said that Japan wanted to work more closely with the EU on security because the world is becoming ever more unpredictable, as shown by the situation in Ukraine. The Japanese PM was at pains to reassure his European partners about security in east Asia, where nationalists are ramping up quarrels with South Korea and China. Van Rompuy said that, in east Asia and elsewhere, differences have to be resolved peacefully and under international law rather than by force or other means of coercion. He said the EU would continue to call on all parties to abstain from raising tension and to build relations based on trust, mutual respect and reconciliation. The head or the European Council said the EU wanted to make a greater contribution to the promotion of peace and security in the region.
The Japanese and EU leaders highlighted the need to take action to tackle climate change, agreeing that this was a critical period for the global talks for a post-Kyoto agreement in 2015. Barroso said it was necessary to demonstrate sustained leadership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at home and inspire others to take action too. (EH)