Brussels, 16/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - Between Seoul and Hong Kong (see EUROPE of 15 January, p.17), Pascal Lamy stopped off in Tokyo, on Friday and Saturday, to consult the Japanese authorities in the twofold aim of launching a new round of multilateral trade talks and strengthening bilateral cooperation. At his arrival, however, Mr Lamy also warned that the Union will challenge, in Geneva, the future law on the deregulation of the Nippon telecommunications market "if, in one month, we do not receive the assurance we need" on fair competition and on the independence of the sectoral trustee authority among other things.
Mr Lamy described as "extremely clear and frank" the exchange of views that he had held during the morning with Toranosuke Katayama, the Japanese minister responsible for the dossier. Speaking before the press, he specified that, if there is no response to the European demands during the vote by the Diet (Japanese Parliament) on the deregulation law for the telecommunications market, "there is the solution of beginning consultation and then a procedure in the context of the conflict settlement mechanism" of the World Trade Organisation. However, he added, as we are dealing with a friendly partner, we shall begin with discussion, negotiation and technical clarification, with the latter concerning interconnection tariffs and the existence of an independent regulation authority. Mr Lamy specified that the aim is not to obtain a sort of bilateral agreement similar to that concluded between the United States and Japan, which is limited to gradually reducing extremely high tariffs that the Nippon giant NTT imposes on its competitors for access to the local loop. "WTO clauses are our yardstick", and more especially the obligations that Japan has accepted in the context of the multilateral agreement on telecommunications, he added. This, he said, implies that Japan should establish an equitable competitive environment, that must be the exact reflection of what we have in Europe.
During his visit to Tokyo, where he arrived one day late, Mr Lamy was also to meet Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, as well as Trade Minister Tako Hiranuma, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Agriculture Minister Yoshio Yatsu. The Union and Japan share the same project for the next multilateral round but the Commissioner insists that Tokyo leave more place to integration of the developing countries in the global trade system and seek to promote with the civil society a better comprehension of the opportunities provided by controlled globalisation.
Furthermore, with the head of Nippon diplomacy, Yohei Mori, Mr Lamy took stock of the content of the joint action plan that the Union and Japan plan to avail themselves of, in May or July (the date has not yet been definitively set), during their next summit meeting. The plan, which is still being prepared, will define the short or long term aims to strengthen cooperation on political and security issues, the economy, global challenges and trade between peoples.