Joint Statement by Masaki Sakuyama (Senior Corporate Advisor, Mitsubishi ElectricCorporation) and Philippe Wahl (Chairman and CEO, Le Groupe La Poste),co-Chairs of the EU-Japan Business Round Table,on the outcome of the EU-Japan Summit of 12 May 2022
As representatives of our respective and industry-spanning Japanese and EU members of the EU-Japan Business
Round Table (“BRT” 1), we, the co-Chairs of the BRT are unreservedly buoyed by the results and prospects thathave been borne by the successful – and in-person – EU-Japan Summit 2022 in Tokyo.
The BRT considers that the Summit has achieved milestones and confirmed progress that are consistent with thevision of the BRT of growing and fostering our economies through Digital and Green. In light of the success ofthe Summit, the BRT takes the opportunity to underscore the following:-The inherent success and ongoing implementation and consultations of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership
Agreement (“EPA”), the various EU-Japan Dialogues, and the Japan-EU Green Alliance launched at lastyear’s Summit are testament to the solid foundation that has been created by the EU and Japan. These measures
have allowed opportunities for growth and expansion of our respective economies, in spite of the range ofglobal economic and trade challenges that have arisen. The BRT applauds the public authorities of Japan andthe EU for their unceasing efforts in making the most of the EPA that our respective business communities areencouraged to leverage.

-The BRT is particularly pleased with one of the key achievements of this year’s Summit – the launch of theJapan-EU Digital Partnership2 that should enable Japan and the EU to lead the rule-making in digital industry,
as well as enabling our SMEs to realise growth through digital transformation (DX). At its Annual Meetings,
the BRT has discussed, and ultimately recommended, the positive contributions that initiatives such as a digital
partnership can realise for the EU and Japan, with the BRT bringing special attention to the importance ofreaching agreement on “Data Free Flow with Trust” (DFFT).

-The BRT is also especially encouraged by the Summit Joint Statement that expresses the continued value of
promoting cooperation between business communities – with the support of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial
Cooperation – such as the EU-Japan Business Round Table, as well its members, the Japan Business Councilin Europe (JBCE), and European Business Council (EBC), as platforms between our respective business
communities and economies for implementing the EU-Japan Green Alliance and Digital Partnership,promoting EU-Japan business cooperation in third countries’ markets, and expanding cooperation in supply
chain resilience, cybersecurity, AI, Beyond 5G, to name a promising few areas of cooperation.

Background
The EU-Japan Business Round Table was created in 1999 to discuss issues of common interest, review factors
affecting all aspects of EU-Japan business relations and provide an EU-Japan business perspective to issues ofpublic policy. Its 80 members are senior executives from 50 large companies, 17 SMEs and 12 businessfederations, chambers of commerce or other organisations and represent a cross-section of EU-Japan industry. Inaddition to holding annual discussions on issues of common interest affecting EU and Japan, the BRT adopts andsubmits recommendations to the EU and Japanese Authorities. The work of the BRT is supported by the EU-Japan
Centre for Industrial Cooperation which acts as the BRT Secretariat.
More information
E-mail roundtable@eu-japan.eu or see https://www.eu-japan-brt.eu/about-brt
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https://www.eu-japan-brt.eu/about-brt
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100343128.pdf