The European Union and Japan will adopt a joint declaration at the end of their 30th bilateral summit on 23 July in Tokyo, calling for closer cooperation on competitiveness, economic security and defence.
“Japan is our closest strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region (...). This Summit is about deepening our cooperation even further, across different fronts”, said the President of the European Council, António Costa.
Together with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, he will meet the Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, to discuss, among other things, the strengthening of trade as based on the economic partnership agreement between the two parties. The country is the EU’s seventh-largest trading partner in terms of total trade in goods and services, and the second-largest in Asia, after China.
The partners also intend to encourage the maintenance of a fair and rules-based economic order.
They are also expected to launch a Japan-EU alliance to promote competitiveness. According to our information, a text on competitiveness could also be published alongside the joint declaration.
It will emphasise respect for multilateralism and recognition of the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
The partners will also underline the strategic “interconnectedness” between Europe and the Indo-Pacific region and seek to take forward work under the EU-Japan Security and Defence Partnership (see EUROPE 13517/10).
They will focus in particular on concerns about the manipulation and interference of foreign information, maritime security and cooperation regarding the defence industry.
On the geopolitical front, the summit – which takes place on the eve of the EU-China summit (see other news) – “will be an opportunity to underline our joint commitment with Japan to continue to put pressure on China and to condemn the circumvention of sanctions and the support given by third parties to Russia's aggression in Ukraine”, explained a European official on 18 July.
The joint declaration will also address other geopolitical challenges around the world, such as the situation in the Middle East and the escalation of tensions in the South China Sea, the actions of North Korea and the deterioration of human rights in Afghanistan. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)