Brussels, 10/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - High-level representatives of the European Commission and Japan made a certain amount of progress in their negotiations on lifting regulatory barriers to Euro-Japanese relations in Brussels last Friday, as part of the EU-Japan dialogue on reform of the regulatory framework. This dialogue, which was instituted in 1994, allows both sides to air regulatory problems which affect business and investment circles. Talks focused on trade legislation, customs regulations, visas and work permits, intellectual property rights, financial services, the European chemicals policy (REACH legislation) and the new environmental directives on products such as batteries and electrical waste.
At a press conference, Seamus Gillespie of the Commission's DG External Relations gave two concrete examples of recent progress: the reduction of the period of time to grant authorisation to new medicines on the Japanese market (which allows European companies to reduce the costs ensuing from the delay in being able to market the product) and the adoption of a new law in Japan which liberalises the market for foreign lawyers and authorises freedom of association with Japanese legal professionals. Problems in procedures for residence permits, working visas or driving licences to be granted to Japanese companies and Japanese individuals resident in the EU have been a stumbling block. For a driving licence to be granted, for example, Japanese drivers are obliged by Community legislation to surrender their driving licence in exchange for the driving licence granted to them by a Member State, but this new driving licence is not recognised during temporary trips back to Japan. The negotiators reached a solution stating that Community rules will permit the temporary return of a third-country passport, with the possibility for the passports to be returned by Japanese embassies or consulates in the Member States. On the impact of Community legislation on Japanese businesses, Japan can subscribe to the REACH proposal on chemical products as far as it relates to health and environmental protection, but it stated that this should not lead to an excessive burden on companies active in the chemicals sector.