Minister Saito Attends the Fifth Japan-EU High Level Economic Dialogue

Minister Saito and Minister Kamikawa from the Japanese side and Executive Vice President Dombrovskis from the EU side attended the dialogue.

The three ministers confirmed the need for policies to create demand through the application of the principles of including sustainability, trustworthiness and reliability, as an effort for building more transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains to respond to the growing uncertainty in the international situation.

In addition, they focused on the provisions on the free flow of data of the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which are rules for smooth business in the digital market, and they welcomed the completion of domestic procedures in Japan and the EU for putting the provisions into force.

Moreover, the three ministers held discussions on [1] economic security, [2] transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains, and [3] the WTO.

1. Economic security

The three ministers welcomed progress made in various aspects of Japan-EU collaboration concerning economic security and exchanged views for further cooperation, in particular, on the policies for economic security in Japan and the EU and economic coercion.

In addition, Minister Saito mentioned Japan’s action plan for economic security, which is scheduled to be revised in May 2024, and, in light of this, he proposed to fortify Japan-EU collaboration in terms of the overall policies for economic security, including analyses to identify the threats and risks involving economic security that Japan has been conducting. In response, the ministers agreed that Japan and the EU will continue to hold discussions on the specific details of the cooperation.

2. Transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains

The three ministers confirmed that the overproduction of unjustifiably inexpensive products by certain supply sources dominates international markets and that it is necessary to enhance like-minded countries’ dependency mainly on green products and overcome situations that lead to vulnerabilities.

In addition, they affirmed that Japan and the EU will further promote cooperation on the following three points to build transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains.

1. Through the application of principles, including sustainability, trustworthiness and reliability, to ensure that elements other than price are taken into account in markets, and the two sides will advance opinion exchanges on policies for encouraging the demand side by taking advantage of subsidies and other tools so that markets can place weight on requirements, including decarbonization, stable supply, and cybersecurity.
2. The two sides will expand these efforts to like-minded countries, including the United States and other G7 member countries.
3. They will identify important fields and accelerate specific work to be conducted by experts in Japan and the EU.

3. The WTO

The three ministers focused on international trade issues, including WTO issues, and agreed that Japan and the EU will advance discussions on WTO reform on the basis of the outcomes of MC13.

Related Material

• Joint Press Statement Japan-EU High Level Economic Dialogue of May 2, 2024(PDF:85KB)

Division in Charge

Europe Division, Trade Policy Bureau