On the occasion of the summit between the European Union and Japan, the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, recalled on Thursday 25 April their joint commitment to defend a rules-based international order within the framework of multilateral forums (see EUROPE 12241/1).
From a bilateral trade perspective, with the entry into force of their Economic Partnership Agreement in February 2019, Europeans and Japanese welcomed, in their joint declaration, “one of the greatest successes of EU-Japan relations”. “This is a clear message to the world that Japan and the EU stand side by side”, Mr Tusk told reporters.
With the implementation of this treaty, the world's largest free trade area opened up: once the agreement is fully implemented, Japan will have eliminated tariffs on 97% of goods imported from the EU, as well as several non-tariff barriers. Annual trade could eventually increase by nearly “€36 billion”, highlighted Mr Juncker (see EUROPE 12184/3, 12178/3).
The EU and Japan also discussed access to their respective agri-food markets. In this respect, they welcomed the addition of Japan to the list of non-Member States for raw milk, dairy products, eggs and egg products. They promised to continue working on the “respective outstanding issues”, the statement said, including the review of import measures and ongoing work on regionalisation.
Discussions on an investment protection agreement (see EUROPE 12241/1) will also continue.
Strengthening international cooperation
As for the challenges facing the multilateral trading system, Japan and the EU are committed to working together in preparation for the G20 summit in Osaka next June to support “a rules-based international order”, the declaration states. They undertake to strengthen “the rules-based multilateral system with WTO at its core”, by launching negotiations as soon as possible to reform the organisation, in particular on issues of industrial subsidies and forced technology transfers (see EUROPE 12240/14).
Although Tokyo is more timid on the issue of reforming the WTO Appellate Body (see EUROPE 12146/16) than Washington, Mr Abe has nevertheless pledged to “cooperate [alongside the EU] in order to ensure the proper functioning of the Appellate Body” alongside the EU, the statement notes.
Europeans and Japanese also underlined their willingness to intensify their cooperation in foreign affairs, security and defence. They intend to promote multilateralism and an international order based on values and rules, with the United Nations at its centre.
The declaration reaffirms their common commitment to “resolve the issue of North Korea's verifiable and irreversible complete dismantlement of its nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes of all ranges”. The same applies to the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by Pyongyang.
And, while the North Korean leader met with President Putin in Vladivostok, both sides are supporting current U.S. efforts “towards diplomatic engagement for peace and security on the Korean peninsula”. In front of press, Mr Tusk also stressed the territorial integrity of Ukraine (see EUROPE 12240/11).
Focusing on maritime security, in particular in the South and East China Sea, both sides recall that it is essential to refrain from the use of force and unilateral actions contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Maritime security is also one of the areas in which both sides want to intensify their dialogue and cooperation, as are the fight against terrorism, cyber security and crisis management.
Determined action in favour of climate and sustainable development
Japan and Europe agreed to cooperate to give new impetus to the implementation of the UN sustainable development agenda for 2030 and its 17 SDGs at the UN summit in September in New York (see EUROPE 12228/16).
On the fight against climate change, they stressed the urgent need for global efforts to be stepped up, particularly in view of the latest IPCC report on the hypothesis of a global warming of 1.5 °C. They also confirmed their commitment to the “full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement” on climate change and their determination to show leadership through “ambitious” long-term strategies to be submitted to the UN in 2020.
On this point, the final declaration does not speak of climate neutrality. It refers strictly to the Paris Agreement, which provides for anthropogenic emissions and carbon removals to be balanced in the second half of the century.
Both sides will also work towards the success of the G20 Osaka Summit in June, in particular on “the importance of accelerating a virtuous cycle between environment and growth by breakthrough innovation”. They will strengthen their cooperation to ensure the success of the September World Climate Summit, raise the level of commitments on the table and close the gap with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Europeans and Japanese have also reconfirmed their determination to tackle environmental challenges by developing the circular economy, stimulating energy efficiency and effectively combating ocean pollution by plastic products.
The EU and Japan welcomed the decisions authorising mutual recognition of an equivalent level of data protection (see EUROPE 12178/3). Japan has made the issue of data flows in a secure environment a focus of its G20 presidency. In this capacity, Mr Juncker gave the EU's full support to the concept of ‘Data Free Flow with Trust’ that Tokyo will present to the Osaka Summit. This concept “will allow the free flow of data between countries guaranteeing a high level of protection”, Mr Juncker said.
In the field of transport, the parties hope to sign a bilateral civil aviation safety agreement in 2019. The EU and the Land of the Rising Sun also undertook to negotiate an agreement on certain aspects of air services “as soon as possible”.
Tokyo pleads for an orderly Brexit
Asked about the prospect of Brexit, Mr Abe said he was “happy” that, for the time being, a no-deal exit by the United Kingdom had been avoided. If this were the case, Japanese companies that have invested in this Member State as a “gateway to the EU” would face difficulties. He called for “predictability” in a process whose negative impact on the global economy, including Japan, should be minimised.
See the EU/Japan Joint Declaration: http://bit.ly/2VxSrFP (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel, Aminata Niang, Camille-Cerise Gessant, Lucas Tripoteau, Mathieu Bion)