Brussels, 23/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The latest Union suggestions for gaining access to the Japanese market are sometimes "excessive" or based on "misunderstanding", say Japanese diplomatic sources. Tokyo hopes, for its part, that there will be improvements in about twenty areas where Japanese companies and citizens encounter difficulties in their activities in Europe. The proposals, put forward during the last twice-yearly dialogue session, raise no less than 120 issues concerning, above all, equal treatment of non-European entities, transparency, simplification and harmonisation of rules and procedures, as well as compatibility with international standards.
The Japanese authorities therefore reserved rather a mitigated welcome for deregulation measures suggested by the Union (see EUROPE of 28 October, p.8). It is a fact that, although some of the priorities put forward by Europeans are in phase with the reforms carried out by Tokyo, others do seem "excessive" or based on misunderstanding. "They ask too much for telecommunications", say Japanese diplomatic sources. "We too are making demands" mainly for predictability and transparency of rules on interconnection, reductions in licensing costs to be paid for operating in Germany and France, and information on the implementation of Community directives, they added, while noting: "Europeans ask us to go further than they do". Tokyo also explains certain expectations held in Brussels by misunderstanding. This is mainly the case when the Union "calls for the strong trend of European investment in Japan to be maintained". "This is not a field where there can be government intervention. Market forces do it all", it is argued on the Japanese side, stressing the "individual behaviour of companies". It went on to explain the level of investment in the Japan-EU sense by the "very different mentality" of Japanese businessmen who "do their market studies themselves". Tokyo "does not accept the European approach", calling for a "more rational allocation of investment at every level of the economy, from multinationals to SMEs". There is also misunderstanding, it is said on the Japanese side, "when Europeans say that costs are too high for foreign operators" who wish to gain a foothold in Japan or launch new products and services there. "Costs are at any rate high in Japan", it is recalled, recalling the realities of Japanese society and economy. Concerning the fears that the Union has about fair competition on the Japanese market, Tokyo remains convinced that the relevant authority, the Fair Trade Commission, "is doing good work". "It will remain independent", like its anti-trust competence, in the context of reorganisation of the Nippon governmental bodies. And "for the medium and long term, discussions are in progress", it was specified.
Regarding deregulation of the European market, Tokyo "highly appreciates" the efforts made by the Union to set an "open and integrated market" in place, but regrets the obstacles that continue to hamper the process. It cites the unequal treatment still reserved for Japanese businesses and the lack of compatibility of certain regulations with the international standards, mainly for legal services, work permits, residence permits, driving licenses, etc. In addition, with the introduction of the euro and given the transnational nature of the Japanese companies, "more coordination is needed at Community level" on the national taxation and social security systems, says the Japanese side, which considers that "the social (employment) and environmental (mainly recycling rules) policies sometimes seem to create excessive restrictions or act as a barrier to the exercise of positive commercial activities by the private sector". The EU should take more into consideration the fact that the Japanese entrepreneurs contribute, and often "considerably", to improving the employment situation within the EU, not only in the content of European regulations (impact, viability and economic practicability) but also in the decision-making process (access to relevant information, plus consultation with Japanese operators not only regarding preparation but also implementation).
In addition to these priorities, there are 120 problematic issues for the Japanese: - retail sales, law and commercial practices (relaxation of the regulation on mergers, rapid adoption of the Directive on the statute of the European company), standards and certification procedures (harmonisation of obligations for collection and recycling), financial services (setting in place of Community procedures for financial activities and norms for the calculation of the minimum European Central Bank reserve), automobiles (simplification of approval procedures, clarification of security and performance evaluation norms), trade and customs (sometimes "inappropriate" use of anti-dumping rules), food safety, etc.
Regarding Euro-Japanese dialogue itself, Tokyo "likes the combined approach with the Member States", which was implemented in March. It hopes it will continue.