At their bilateral summit in Tokyo on Wednesday 23 July, European and Japanese leaders were keen to highlight the “unique bond” between the EU and Japan in a world that is increasingly fragmented geopolitically and commercially.
“This bond gives us both clarity and direction (...) to shape a world that reflects our shared values: open economies, secure societies and fair rules”, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the press, in the company of European Council President António Costa and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
The two parties wanted to demonstrate “stronger than ever” cooperation, in particular to reduce strategic dependence on giants such as China. In any case, this is a point Japan wanted to stress on the eve of the EU-China summit in Beijing on Thursday 24 July (see EUROPE 13685/12).
In her speech, President von der Leyen also welcomed the trade agreement concluded the same day between Japan and the United States after several months of negotiations. Talks between the EU and the administration are still ongoing (see other news).
Competitiveness Alliance. The summit’s highlight was the launch of the EU-Japan Competitiveness Alliance, four years after a ‘Green’ Alliance was announced (see EUROPE 12728/13). This time, the priority is resilience. Both parties want to cooperate as much as possible to counter attacks on multilateralism and unfair practices.
The EU and Japan will therefore be extending their existing high-level economic dialogue to address threats to the resilience of value chains and shared strategic dependencies. This format will also make it possible to discuss economic coercion by other countries, unfair practices and protection against certain emerging technologies.
It became clear to both sides that they were facing the same economic challenges and that their respective responses could draw inspiration from each other, a Japanese official explained.
The dialogue on industrial policy will also serve to coordinate approaches on these subjects, as well as on decarbonisation, the circular economy, etc. In absolute terms, the EU and Japan want to focus on cooperation around critical raw materials and batteries, highly strategic sectors dominated by China.
Increased collaboration is also expected in the field of research, with joint work between the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and its Japanese counterpart (NEDO), for example.
Trade. Another important outcome of the summit was the EU’s and Japan’s commitment to strengthening their Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). While the latter has enabled a 20% increase in trade, it could still benefit from additional openings on public procurement or sanitary and phytosanitary standards.
The leaders therefore undertook to respect and implement the EPA’s provisions on sanitary and phytosanitary standards “without undue delay”, and to simplify import procedures on both sides. On several occasions in the past, the EU has been critical of Tokyo’s failure to recognise certain European phytosanitary standards.
The EU and Japan also promise to speed up work on the mutual recognition of zoning decisions, particularly for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), by the end of 2025. They also hope to conclude discussions on recognising zoning decisions for diseases.
Security and defence. On the security front, António Costa reiterated that Europe’s security was “interlinked to the security in the Indo-Pacific” and called for strengthening the defence and security partnership signed in November 2024 (see EUROPE 13517/10).
The two allies also intend to launch an EU-Japan dialogue next year to strengthen cooperation in the defence industry, and to begin formal negotiations on an information security agreement.
They also emphasise the importance of maritime security, in particular cooperation through the administrative arrangement between the European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta (EUNAVFOR Atalanta) and the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).
Other expected actions include launching an EU-Japan dialogue on information manipulation and foreign interference, and cooperation on space security.
Climate. Ahead of COP30 in Belém (Brazil), the partners also reaffirmed their ambitions to decarbonise their economies by 2050, as part of their ‘Green Alliance’. They also want to continue their cooperation on carbon pricing as Japan prepares to introduce a mandatory emission trading system from 2026.
To see the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/hz8 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Pauline Denys)