Looking ahead: towards a deeper EU-Japan cooperation
AUTHOR
Valdis Dombrovskis
Commissioner for Trade, Executive Vice President, Economy That Works For People
European Commission
The third edition of the EU-Japan EPA Forum 2021 is a welcome opportunity to discuss our deepening economic and political cooperation. The Economic Partnership Agreement has already brought benefits to businesses and consumers on both sides. It has made trading easier and cheaper for producers, including farmers and manufacturers.
Earlier this year we achieved further milestones when we protected a number of geographical indication products and agreed on regulatory convergence for auto standards. These are positive steps forward, but we can do much more. We should notably invest more effort and resources to improve market access in certain areas. This will help exporters on both sides to gain maximum value from the agreement, particularly SMEs. This is especially welcome as we seek to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. From the EU side, we would like to see improved market access for our agricultural products in Japan. And we are keen to see improved information and transparency on Japanese government procurement. Strengthening our economic relationship will provide a platform for cooperation in other areas.
As we plan our recoveries from Covid-19, we can work together to promote our shared interests, such as climate action and the digitization of our economies. We are exploring the potential of a “Green Alliance”: this would entail deepening our bilateral cooperation on issues that are fundamental for the climate transition. We can promote “green growth” in our agreement, by ensuring that our regulations are compatible to the greatest possible extent.
On the global stage, collaboration between the EU and Japan on climate and sustainability issues is crucial and can make a real difference. We have many encouraging signs of accelerated climate action in other countries, including the United States. The Climate Summit convened by President Biden was an important milestone, but we must continue to ramp up our ambition we approach COP26 later this year.
We are working together on sustainable finance, an important element of our regulatory cooperation. We have teamed with up with other like-minded countries in the International Platform on Sustainable Finance.
The classification of economic activities contributing to sustainability – better known as taxonomies - is an important topic for discussion in the Platform. Our work there will contribute to global solutions for defining sustainable investments, notably in the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group. Ultimately, a way to measure progress is needed so that all sectors can plan and invest for a sustainable transition. The EU adopted the legal basis for our taxonomy in June 2020, and a further milestone was reached in April 2021 when the European Commission adopted legislation on the technical screening criteria for climate change adaptation and mitigation activities. We will be most interested to hear the views of our Japanese partners on these complex but hugely important issues.
Our interests also align when it comes to supporting and, where necessary, reforming the rules-based multilateral trading system. 2021 presents good perspectives to advance WTO reform, and we should lead from the front in this respect. The new WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has hit the ground running since she took office. We believe that her energy and dynamism, coupled with the return of the US to a leadership position, can help to generate new momentum for reform.
Our shared goal should be to achieve a number of positive results at the 12th Ministerial Conference later this year. We believe we should focus on a few realistic but important outcomes, notably the conclusion of negotiations on fisheries subsidies and a multilateral agreement that will facilitate access to vaccines. In particular, we hope we will gather broad support for the Ottawa Group’s Trade and Health initiative. We are also open to realistic outcomes in the field of agriculture, although the more controversial issues such as domestic support will require more time and effort. There is scope to conclude the plurilateral negotiations on services domestic regulation. And we should aim to launch a multilateral working group on WTO reform, which would focus on systemic issues.
Finally, the EU and Japan should now reactivate the trilateral process with the U.S. and work on an initiative on competitive neutrality. The initiative should cover issues such as industrial subsidies, state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfers, and pro-competitive domestic regulation. As soon as we have a blueprint agreed trilaterally, we need to bring on board a wider coalition of WTO members, starting with like-minded countries such as those in the Ottawa Group.
The EU and Japan have every incentive to deepen our partnership, not only in our own mutual interest but in the context of providing much-needed joint leadership at global level. By using our Partnership Agreement as a strong foundation, we can assist each other to build climate neutral, resilient and modern economies, which work for our people, our economies, and our planet.
Published 2021