EU-JAPAN Summit - 2 May 2005

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EU leaders will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the 14th Summit between the European Union (EU) and Japan in Luxembourg on 2 May 2005. Alongside European Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso and European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU will be represented by Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn and High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. Discussions will cover political and economic aspects of the EU-Japan relationship, as well as global issues including the environment, disaster preparedness and the forthcoming WTO Hong Kong ministerial meeting, as well as a range of key international issues including relations with China, the Korean Peninsula, Russia, Iran and Iraq.

President Barroso said: "I am looking forward to my first Summit meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi. EU-Japan relations are better than they have ever been. I now want to deepen our political relationship so that it matches up to the very strong economic ties we already enjoy."

The EU and Japan are strengthening their relationship through the implementation of a Joint Action Plan, with four key objectives: promoting peace and security, enhancing trade, working together to tackle global challenges and the bringing together of people and cultures.

Recent progress towards the objectives of the Action Plan includes the adoption of the Investment Framework to foster growth in two-way direct investment and the implementation of the Declaration on Disarmament and Non-proliferation, agreed at the 2004 Summit. The 2005 EU-Japan Year of People to People Exchanges is well underway, with nearly 1,000 events in the EU and Japan.

The European Commission wants to see vigorous implementation of the Action Plan continue, including in the fields of customs co-operation, science and technology co-operation and peaceful use of nuclear energy where bilateral agreements are being negotiated.

The EU and Japan are working towards a consensual solution to the ITER issue, and have agreed to a process which should enable a decision by July. The construction and operation of the ITER plant should demonstrate the feasibility and desirability of fusion as a large scale source of energy.

The EU appreciates its existing co operation with Japan on a range of international issues including the Western Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka, and hopes to strengthen political co-operation further. As democracies, which believe in the rule of law, human rights and sustainable economic development, there are many shared values and interests that the EU and Japan could project more widely on the world stage.

Together Japan and the EU account for 40% of global GDP and are both major global aid donors. When the EU and Japan work together they are listened to. Closer collaboration between the two sides could make an important contribution to the success of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations and help to prepare the multilateral regime to combat global warming that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

For further information on the EU and Japan:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/japan/intro/index.htm

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• 14th EU-Japan Summit  (2/5/2005)