Brussels, 21/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - Around forty business leaders from prominent EU and Japanese companies et on Monday for the annual Round Table on EU/Japan trade dialogue. In a backdrop to the summit between the EU and Japan, which is on Tuesday in Tokyo (EUROPE 19 June), European Commissioners Erkki Liikanenen and Pascal Lamy took part in this meeting, chaired by the vice president of Suez-Tractabel, Etienne Davignon (former European Commissioner) and Fuji/Xerox MD, Yotaro Kobayashi. Mr Liikanen called on participants to be inventive in their recommendations to the different governments and noted that "Your input is particularly valuable because it gives us a direct flavour of practical problems which European and Japanese are faced with in their bilateral relations".
The Round Table recommendations (the structure was set up in 1999) focus on improvements to the trade environment in Europe and Japan. The latter is the 4th largest trading partner of the EU25 (after the USA, China and Switzerland). The EU imports goods worth EUR 72 bn and exports to the tune of EUR 41 bn.