Brussels, 21/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The first 2001 session of the bi-annual dialogue between the Union and Japan on deregulation took part in two phases - at the end of January in Tokyo and on 9 February in Brussels. Just a few weeks before completing the new Nippon reform plan to cover the period 2001-2004, the Europeans insisted on systematic correction of rules and practices. The latter maintain foreign investment in Japan well below the levels generally observed in the main industrialised countries. The other obstacles to enhancing potentially very rich trader relations should also be dealt with "once and for all" in the context of the future joint action plan that the partners hope to set in plan by the summer. The Japanese, for their part, clarified their priorities by putting forward not 120 requests as before but about fifty. Requests range from equal treatment of non-European entities as regards transparency, simplification and harmonisation of certain rules and practices, as these still pose a problem for Japanese operators in Europe.
The meeting in Brussels, chaired by Fernando Valenzuela, Deputy Director General for external relations at the European Commission, and Hitoshi Nakana, Director General of the Economic Bureau at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, focused on the need to review the conditions reserved for foreign investors in Japan. Conditions mainly concern the complexity of surcharges imposed on them for establishing enterprises and obtaining commercial licenses. It was also very much question of access by European airline companies to certain Japanese airports. The EU continues to seek a fair share for its carriers of slots at Narita, notably with the building of the new runway next year, and also at Haneda, as it opens up to international traffic in the future. The European experts also insisted on the importance of resolutely following Japan's regulatory reforms with a vast and bold programme able to bring back the recovery of sustainable economic growth. They welcomed the strengthening of the deregulation committee and hoped that the participation of operators from varied horizons, both Japanese and foreign including from the EU, would be maintained, as well as better coordination within the government on the issue of vigorous implementation of competition rules. The meeting, that lasted a little over two hours, also made it possible to take stock of the preparations with a view to launching a joint action plan for the next ten years, during the bilateral summit to be held in May or in July (the date has not yet been decided). Mr Valenzuela hoped that the plan, based on four pillars (political and security, economy, world challenges, trade between peoples) would lead to broader economic dialogue between the Union and Japan and to the dismantling of trade and investment barriers that still exist, while integrating a better form of the dialogue that began in 1995 on regulatory reforms on both sides.
From the Japanese point of view, the problems remain considerable, but the Japanese have somewhat refocused their approach, giving preference to around fifty priority requests on 16 themes, during the session on 29 and 30 January in Brussels. The session was chaired by Mr Shiojiri, Deputy Director General for economic affairs at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, and Mr Westerhund, Director General for relations with Japan at the European Commission. The latter two received a second list from the Japanese covering 70 additional reform proposals. The Japanese experts mainly insisted on problems linked: - to commercial codes and practices (lack of precaution, equity and transparency in the requirement to divulge information imposed on the third parties in the context of investigation procedures on mergers and acquisitions, a lack of information and concrete perspectives concerning draft directives on the statute of the European company and the cross-border compensation for losses and profits within the Union); - the protection of databanks, to the transfer of personal data and copyright; - the lack of uniformity in the procedures for financial services and the processing of non-European banks; - the treatment of Japanese residents in Europe (driving licenses, visas for stay and work permits); - food security (embargo on Japanese deliveries of queen scallops and pet food, etc.). They also urged for rapid improvements to be made in the telecommunications sector, regretting among other things the lack of equity and speed of interconnection and the continuously high operating costs in several Member States, despite some recent progress (drop in licensing costs for foreign operators in France and the authorisation of multiple entrants for professional stays in Germany). In other sectors, it is still the same problems that hamper Japanese activities in Europe, and "more substantial progress" must be agreed by Europeans, it is said in Tokyo. "For our part, we shall take European requests into account when we elaborate our three-year deregulation plan", said the same source.