"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] 17th Japan-EU Summit Joint Press Statement

[Place] Tokyo
[Date] April 23, 2008
[Source] Minstry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
[Notes]
[Full text]

1.Mr Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr Janez Jansa, Prime Minister of Slovenia, in his capacity as President of the European Council, and Mr Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, met in Tokyo on 23 April 2008 for the 17th Summit between Japan and the European Union (EU).

2.Summit leaders are determined to further promote the Japan-EU strategic partnership, based upon the longstanding cooperation and shared fundamental values and principles, such as democracy, the rule of law, human rights, good governance and a market-based economy. Reiterating also the importance of the Action Plan for Japan-EU Cooperation adopted in 2001 as the basis of the current fruitful dialogue and cooperation between both sides, they tasked the Action Plan Steering Group to ensure effective and satisfactory implementation of the Action

Plan.

I. Assuming Global Responsibility

3.Summit leaders, fully assuming their responsibility to deal with global challenges, reaffirmed their willingness that Japan and the EU continue to play leading roles, for instance, in addressing climate change, in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with special reference to the development of Africa, as well as in maintaining international peace and security. Japan and the EU emphasised that close synergies exist between the climate change and development agendas, and action in each of these areas should be mutually reinforcing.

4.Summit leaders recognised that the world economy confronts challenging and uncertain prospects. Japan and the EU will work together to promote stability in financial markets, including through the strengthening of financial systems. Summit leaders noted with strong concern the trends of high price of natural resources and commodities, in particular, prices of food and oil, which could slow down the growth in global economy and have negative effects on developed and developing countries. They underlined the urgent need to address the issue particularly in light of its acute impact on developing countries' efforts to overcome poverty and to meet the MDGs. They also shared the view that global imbalances remain a concern and that both surplus and deficit countries should implement the policy actions decided in April 2007 in the framework of the IMF-led Multilateral Consultations. Japan and the EU will intensify their efforts to implement their respective reform agendas in order to increase the growth potential of their economies. Summit leaders will work together in the coming months and will deliver a strong and coherent message on the world economy at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit.

5.Japan and the EU will strengthen dialogue and cooperate with emerging economies to promote sustainable development and a sound market-based economy and to address such global challenges as mentioned above.

6.Japan and the EU welcomed the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali which launched a process aiming to establish an effective and comprehensive post-2012 framework under the UN by the end of 2009, responding to the findings of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and that delay in reducing emissions significantly constrains opportunities to achieve lower stabilisation levels and increases the risks of more severe climate change impacts. Japan and the EU will aim to ensure that the forthcoming G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit will contribute towards this end. Both will work together to achieve a fair and flexible framework in which major economies participate substantially. Summit leaders share the view that setting mid-term quantified national emissions reduction targets is an essential element of such a framework. The bottom up approach proposed by Japan is useful to identify the technically possible mitigation potential based on aggregated sectoral reduction amounts. Combined with an approach taking into account the costs of the technical mitigation potentials and the financial capability of countries, this is a constructive contribution to setting cost-efficient, fair and equitable targets. Japan and the EU stress that a highly ambitious and binding international approach is required to deal with the scale and urgency of the climate change challenge of promoting a low carbon, high growth global economy.

7.Japan and the EU shared the view on the urgency to achieve a peaking out of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Leaders recalled positions expressed by Japan and the EU on the appropriate length of the period to be considered in this respect. In this context, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments by Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG) noted the usefulness of the ranges referred to in the contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC and that this report indicates that global emissions of GHGs need to peak in the next 10 to 15 years and be reduced to very low levels, well below half of levels in 2000 by the middle of the twenty-first century in order to stabilize their concentrations in the atmosphere at the lowest levels assessed by the IPCC to date in its scenarios.

8.According to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, Japan and the EU shared the view that strong leadership by developed countries is required while ensuring the comparability of efforts among them. Summit leaders underlined that emerging economies should make appropriate contributions according to their responsibilities and respective capabilities. In this context, the AWG recognised that the contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC indicates that achieving the lowest levels assessed by the IPCC to date and its corresponding potential damage limitation would require Annex I Parties as a group to reduce emissions in a range of 25-40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

9.Japan and the EU will work closely to explore potentials of cooperative sectoral approaches in key sectors like power, transport and industry, which may encourage these sectors in developing countries to become more efficient in the coming decade.

10.Japan and the EU stressed that the future framework should provide incentives for GHGs emission reductions while supporting economic development. Japan and the EU will join forces in the field of capacity building in relation to adaptation. Japan and the EU will work towards scaling-up, redirecting and optimising finance and investment for the significant transformation towards a low-carbon society, which may entail changes in areas such as life style, urban structure and transportation. Japan and the EU also reaffirmed the importance of: the development, deployment and transfer of technologies; active use of the market-based instruments such as emissions trading, performance-based regulation and consumer labelling; the enhancement of the public private partnership to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency; appropriate adaptation measures to tackle inevitable effects of climate change; and addressing the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. Japan and the EU confirmed that unprecedented finance and investments will have to be mobilised to meet the challenge of both mitigation and adaptation. The bulk of those flows will have to come from the private sector and through market-based instruments. Public budgets are essential to generate an enabling environment and to leverage private sources, by providing incremental finance. A coherent, inclusive and effective financial architecture is essential for reaching agreement on a post-2012 framework.

11.Japan and the EU will support the further liberalisation of trade in environmentally-friendly goods and services, inter alia, through WTO, which contributes to improving innovation and stimulating action in all countries.

12.Both sides considered energy efficiency improvement to be the most cost-effective means of addressing energy security and climate change mitigation in the short-term and committed to further enhance international cooperation in this field. In preparation of the upcoming G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, Japan and the EU expressed their strong support for the International Partnership for Cooperation on Energy Efficiency (IPEEC), which they have been developing together with the US and other countries, to be an open, broad and inclusive partnership of the nations seeking to maximise the benefits of energy efficiency. Japan and the EU emphasize the need of strengthening energy security including through enhanced dialogue and cooperation between producing and consuming countries and the need of greater use of sustainable energy options such as renewable energy sources, enhanced oil recovery, clean coal and carbon capture and storage. Both will also work closely within the UN, including the IMO and ICAO, in order to achieve an effective reduction of GHGs emissions from international shipping and aviation, taking account of Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Kyoto Protocol.

13.Japan and the EU, acknowledging the "Potsdam Initiative-Biological Diversity 2010", will work together for achieving by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss, inter alia, by ensuring the conservation of marine biodiversity and by increasing efforts of halting deforestation and combating illegal logging. Summit leaders shared the determination to work for a successful outcome at the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held in May 2008 in Bonn.

14.Japan and the EU will strengthen cooperation on poverty reduction through sustainable development. Recalling the strategic commitments made at Gleneagles to support African nations to make progress towards the MDGs in the run up to the September 2008 mid-point review by the UN Secretary General and pointing out the focus on Africa during Japan's Presidency of the G8, they will cooperate to ensure the success of the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV). Summit leaders decided to better co-ordinate positions on key development challenges as well as on political and security issues of the African agenda. Summit leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in collaboration with new players and partners in development cooperation and will intensify their exchange of views on the quality and impact of development aid.

15.Japan and the EU highlighted the urgent need for the successful conclusion of the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA). In this respect, Japan and the EU look forward to a coming WTO Ministerial as a key opportunity to move rapidly towards the conclusion of ambitious, balanced and comprehensive outcome.

16.Summit leaders underlined the importance of implementing the on-going reform process adopted at the UN Summit in 2005, including the reform of the main UN bodies, as referred to in the outcome document, in order to address various challenges that the international community faces. Summit leaders also underscored the importance of further cooperation in the work of the Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission.

II. Promoting Peace and Security

17.Summit leaders exchanged views on a number of issues of common concern. They underlined the usefulness of strategic dialogues between Japan and the EU in building common views on East Asia and Central Asia, in the light of, among others, the still existing security concerns. Summit leaders, reaffirming their willingness to enhance existing political dialogues, shared their intention to strengthen their operational cooperation to be more action-oriented and promote international peace and stability. Japan stressed the view that the issue of arms embargo deserves careful consideration in the light of the regional security environment.

18.On East Asia and its emerging regional architecture, the EU welcomed efforts to strengthen open and transparent regional co-operation based upon universally recognised values and global rules, and expressed appreciation of Japan's constructive and active role in this respect. Japan welcomed the EU's constructive contributions to the regional political architecture in Asia-Pacific. Recognising that the East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum with ASEAN as the driving force working in close partnership with its other participants, Japan welcomed the EU's continued interest in being engaged in the EAS process and its intention to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). Recognising the growing role of China in the world economy and in international relations, Japan and the EU stressed the importance of working with China as responsible and constructive partners in the international community.

19.Summit leaders acknowledged the important role of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) as a platform for dialogue, cooperation and policy development between the two regions. They looked forward to ASEM 7 which will be held in China on 24-25 October 2008.

20.Japan and the EU will continue their close cooperation on assistance to Afghanistan in the fields of rural development, police and judicial reforms as well as Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG). Japan expressed appreciation for the activities of the European Union Police Mission (EUPOL Afghanistan). Japan and the EU underlined the importance of the international community maximising its collective input on Afghanistan and committing to do all it can in support of the Afghan government's efforts to achieve peace and stability for its people.

21.Japan and the EU, sharing serious concerns over the Iranian nuclear issue, renewed their commitment to the ongoing efforts in the International Atomic Energy Agency and the UN Security Council to resolve it and confirmed their determination to work for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to this issue. Japan and the EU also underscored the importance of stability in the Middle East region.

22.On the Middle East Peace Process, Japan and the EU reiterated their support for the political process launched at Annapolis, recalling that only a negotiated solution can bring peace and security to the Middle East. They expressed strong support for the ongoing bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The goal remains the establishment of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza that will unite all Palestinians, living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours. Japan and the EU called on the Parties to implement their Road Map obligations in parallel with the negotiations. They recalled that a just and lasting peace can only be achieved through a comprehensive approach.

23.Regarding North Korea, Japan and the EU will continue to cooperate in denuclearising the Korean Peninsula, on the basis of the agreement at the Six-Party Talks, eliminating the threat posed by missiles and addressing the human rights concerns including the abduction issue.

24.Summit leaders expressed their expectations that Myanmar embark on a peaceful transition to a legitimate, civilian government. Summit leaders took note of the announcement by the Government of Myanmar of a Constitutional referendum in May 2008 by secret vote and of multi-party elections in 2010. Summit leaders encouraged Myanmar to immediately engage all stakeholders in an inclusive dialogue, in order to better address the political, structural and economic problems facing the country. Such a dialogue requires the immediate release of political detainees. Both sides commended the UN Special Envoy Mr. Gambari for his valuable work and stressed their commitment to continue to support his efforts.

25.On Sri Lanka, Japan and the EU will continue to monitor closely the human rights situation. They welcomed ongoing efforts toward a political solution of the ethnic conflict, including the local government election held in Batticaloa in March and the work of the All Party Representative Committee. Japan and the EU stressed the importance of encouraging the Government of Sri Lanka to make further efforts to this end.

26.Reaffirming the importance of fostering the stability and prosperity in Central Asia, Japan and the EU will co-ordinate closely on efforts to enhance border management capacity in the region. Summit leaders also reaffirmed the usefulness of political dialogues with the countries of the region, of supporting reform and democratisation, and of exploring the possibilities of cooperation in such areas as water management, health, human resources development including education, human rights, democracy, the rule of law and environment.

27.Reiterating the importance of peacebuilding, especially in Africa, Japan and the EU will cooperate in enhancing Africa's peacekeeping capabilities and also work together to promote sustainable peace throughout the continent. They will support the multidimensional presence in Chad and the Central African Republic consisting of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT), the EU Force in Chad and Central African Republic (EUFOR TCHAD/RCA) as well as the Chadian Integrated Security Detachment, which are contributing to the security in those countries and are also expected to enhance stability in Darfur, Sudan.

28.Japan and the EU reaffirmed their intention to cooperate in the area of human security by promoting this concept in the General Assembly of the United Nations and other international fora, and to pursue dialogue on human security.

III. Cooperation for Greater Prosperity

29.Summit leaders reiterated their intention that Japan and the EU, as leading economies, will step up their cooperation for greater prosperity and quality of life in Japan, the EU and the rest of the world through various joint endeavours such as rule-making, for example, making best use of and promoting international standards, as well as promoting innovation. Summit leaders welcomed the work of a number of bilateral dialogues under overall supervision of the High-Level Consultations, in particular the Regulatory Reform Dialogue (RRD); and both sides will make these frameworks including RRD further effective. Japan and the EU recognised the value of the work of the Business Dialogue Roundtable (BDRT) and continue to have interest in the discussions between the business communities.

30.Summit leaders share the same challenges and determination to ensure a high level of consumer safety and protection and public health. They will aim to strengthen their cooperation at international and bilateral levels on safety of food and other products, security of the supply chain and the food chain, the security of networks and ICT usages.

31.Japan and the EU will continue to strengthen their cooperation on intellectual property rights (IPR) at both bilateral and multilateral levels and, as discussed at the recent meetings of the bilateral IPR dialogues, by implementing the initiative of Japan-EU Action Plan on IPR Protection and Enforcement including acceleration of the negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Both sides welcomed the steady progress in some areas of cooperation on IPR, including enhancement of information exchange between Japan and the EU on IPR issues in third countries.

32.Summit leaders noted the signature on 30 January 2008 of the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the European Community on Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters. Japan and the EU will now further strengthen their cooperation on all customs matters under the agreement. In this regard, both sides will continue to work closely to achieve a mutual recognition of their Authorised Economic Operators programmes and security measures.

33.Japan and the EU will further strengthen their cooperation in the field of financial services and the EU welcomed Japan's Financial Services Agency's December 2007 Plan for Strengthening the Competitiveness of Japan's Financial and Capital Markets as a roadmap for making Japan an international financial centre. Both sides confirmed the ongoing cooperation and dialogues on the recognition of equivalence between Japanese and EU-adopted accounting standards, in view of the EU planning to take decision on this issue in the course of this year.

34.Summit leaders recognised potential benefits of increased co-operation in the field of civil aviation and expressed their expectations that Japan and the EU Member States will address the outstanding issues relating to the bilateral air services agreements.

35.Japan and the EU will continue to pursue the cooperation agenda identified in the document "Promoting Research and Innovation towards Prosperity" adopted at the last Japan-EU Summit.

36.Japan and the EU will cooperate more intensively in the field of science and technology and will complete the work and sign the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the European Community on Cooperation in Science and Technology in the near future.

37.In the field of higher education, Japan and the EU will further enhance their cooperation, building upon experiences gained in earlier pilot projects and the Erasmus Mundus programme. They will launch a new round of projects in 2008/2009 and conduct an ad-hoc seminar on educational policy.

38.The EU reiterated its request for ensuring equal treatment for all its citizens, including full visa waiver reciprocity with respect to the citizens of all EU Member States. Summit leaders stressed the importance of resolving the related issues in the ongoing consultations and noted that the successful conclusion of the consultations will result in the visa waiver for the citizens of all EU Member States.