Brussels, 19/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The focus of the tour of head of Japanese diplomacy, Fumio Kishida, around Europe this week (including meetings in Brussels on 19-20 January) is strengthening economic cooperation and security between the EU and Japan.
At the time EUROPE went to press on Monday 19 January, Kishida was due to meet European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans at the end of the afternoon, before having dinner with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini - with whom he was expected to discuss international security issues and the fight against terrorism. Earlier in the afternoon, Kishida met European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and confirmed Japan's resolve to conclude an economic partnership agreement with the EU before the end of 2015. On Tuesday 20 January, Kishida will make a speech to the trilateral forum, under the auspices of the German Marshall Fund, before meeting NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
The goal of Kishida's European tour is to confirm the close cooperation between the EU and Japan as regards the economy and international security, at the time of Europe's new leadership, a diplomatic source told EUROPE on Monday. “Japan wants to start a new era of cooperation”, this source stated. The EU and Japan will pursue close collaboration on international issues such as the situation in Ukraine, and will contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the international community “through promoting concrete cooperation” - including the conclusion in 2015 of an agreement in principle on the free trade negotiations that were launched in April 2013, and the swift conclusion of negotiations for a strategic partnership agreement, also launched in spring 2013, said this diplomatic source.
As regards security, Kishida wants to send a clear message to the international community, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, on how Japan could contribute to international peace, stability and security, and to resolving global problems.
During their last bilateral summit, in May 2014, European and Japanese leaders agreed to promote increased cooperation on security issues, especially through the future strategic partnership agreement, which will cover political dialogue, cooperation on regional issues, global challenges and sectoral cooperation - areas in which the parties particularly want to strengthen their cooperation are cyber-security, research and innovation, and energy.
As regards the free trade plank of Kishida's European tour, Japan - from whom the EU is calling for considerable efforts on non-tariff barriers and public procurement - is also expecting the EU to make efforts on market access. “On non-tariff barriers, the effort is very hard for us. We want the EU to match our efforts [on non-tariff barriers] on market access for cars and electronic products. The efforts that we made on railway procurement show that we make strong efforts”, said the Japanese diplomatic source. The next round of negotiations is scheduled in Brussels for the week of 23 February.
Having started his European tour with a visit to Paris on 18 January - where Kishida agreed with France's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism in the wake of the Islamist attacks in Paris - he will finish his tour in London on 20 January. Kishida and Japan's minister for defence, Gen Nakatani, will take part in the first meeting on security involving the foreign affairs ministers and defence ministers from Japan and the UK. (EH)