EU-Japan Business Round Table
Brussels Meeting, 6-7 July 2009
“Securing stability in difficult economic times”
Recommendations
Brussels, 6-7 July 2009
1. Introduction
On 6 and 7 July in Brussels, business leaders from the European Union and Japan
met during their Annual Meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table (BRT). The
meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Georges Jacobs, Chairman of the Board of Delhaize
Group and Honorary Chairman of UCB, and Mr. Hajime Sasaki, Executive Advisorand former Chairman of the Board of NEC Corporation.
The BRT had the pleasure of welcoming high-level representatives of the Europeanand Japanese Authorities, namely Mr. Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of theEuropean Commission; Mr. Yoshifumi Matsumura, Parliamentary Vice-Minister forEconomy, Trade and Industry; and Mr. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Parliamentary ViceMinister for Foreign Affairs, and, representing the Swedish Presidency of the EU,Mr. Tim Brooks, Director for the International Secretariat at the Swedish Ministry ofEnterprise. During a fruitful exchange of views, the BRT Members commented on
the implementation by the Authorities of last year’s Round Table recommendations
and identified key bilateral or multilateral areas for further cooperation.
The challenges and consequences of the current global economic and financial crisis
were the top item of this year’s EU-Japan Business Round Table agenda. Businessleaders had an in-depth exchange of views with Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda, President of
the Asian Development Bank, and Mr. Peter Praet, Chairman of the Banking
Supervision Committee of the European Central Bank and Executive Director of theNational Bank of Belgium on the common responses that the EU and Japan could
give in order to overcome the current crisis. Further issues of high interest toEuropean and Japanese businesses that were discussed related to innovation andICT opportunities, energy efficiency as an efficient tool to tackle climate change, andways of identifying mutually beneficial initiatives for stronger trade and investment
which could provide new potentials for large corporations and SMEs.
The BRT had interesting presentations from the work of its different working parties(WP) and adopted new detailed recommendations of how to develop further EUJapan relations. Specific proposals for action were adopted and handed over to theEuropean and Japanese Authorities in the areas of Multilateral & Bilateral Trade
Relations, Investment, and Regulatory Cooperation (WP A); Life Sciences,Biotechnology and Healthcare (WP B); Information & Communication Technologies(WP C); Financial Services; Accounting and Taxation (WP D); and Innovation,Environment and Sustainable Development (WP E).
This year’s Annual Meeting was the last one under the European Co-Chairmanshipof Georges Jacobs. The BRT members thanked him for his strong commitment tothe Round Table and all the work he had done over the years to strengthen EUJapan relations. They warmly and unanimously welcomed Mr. Jean-Yves Le Gall,
Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, a long-time BRT member, as his successor.

12. Overall prioritiesa) Responding to global challenges
Business leaders from Japan and the EU are concerned about the hard impacts thefinancial crisis and subsequent economic crisis are having on trade flows around theworld. The BRT strongly deplores some protectionist rhetoric and some very real
protectionist measures around the globe that have had a chilling effect on the tradeand investment strategies of companies. The Members of the EU-Japan Business
Round Table underline their strong support to open markets and oppose any form ofprotectionism which aims to close world-wide markets, introduce restrictions onmarket access, investment or mobility of workers. They welcome the fact that theWTO has taken up the initiative of monitoring protectionist measures or new tradehampering regulations around the world. Moreover, they call upon the WTO tostrengthen its stance by requesting WTO members to explain the reasoning andcompatibility with WTO law of their measures to the whole WTO membership.
The BRT remains committed to a successful conclusion of the ongoing Doha round(DDA) but regrets that a DDA breakthrough in 2008 could not be achieved – despite
a clear agreement to finalise the round at the G20 meeting on 15 November 2008.
A successful outcome of the Doha Round will be the best answer to any protectionist
tendencies. However, European and Japanese businesses are very worried that theambitious level of the objectives sought at the start of the Round will not be
maintained in the final conclusions. They urge their Authorities to continue
negotiations based on the current modalities and remind them that a successful
outcome must provide substantial new market opportunities for European andJapanese businesses, in particular in highly competitive emerging countries.
Japanese and European business leaders are deeply concerned about thedevastating impact the financial crisis is having on companies as the major drivers ofgrowth which have been hit by limits on access to finance. This is leading to thebreakdown of business activity across Europe and in Japan, hereby also affecting
companies that were not linked in any way to the banking crisis.
The BRT calls upon the European and Japanese Authorities to establish the rightframework that allows bank credit flows to companies at competitive rates. Businessleaders also underline the need to reform global financial systems and to stabilise
financial markets. They call upon the Authorities to undertake concerted efforts inmonetary and fiscal actions in order to recover the global economy and realise
continued economic growth and job creation. In that context, they urge them toensure that money is well spent and the different stimulus plans do not lead toserious trade distortions. The BRT also reaffirms its commitment to a successful
outcome of the international climate change negotiations and the upcoming
Copenhagen Climate Conference (COP 15) in December 2009, despite the difficult
economic and financial situation.
European and Japanese leaders strongly
recommend that governments involve ministers of finance directly in the negotiations
to discuss how to move ahead on climate financing in the current constrained
financial conditions.
b) Strengthening bilateral cooperation
This year’s BRT Annual Meeting discussed in particular the benefits the stimulationof innovation and promoting new technologies could contribute to bringing solutions
to global challenges including climate change. Moreover, BRT members advocatedthat their Authorities envisage mutually beneficial initiatives for stronger trade andinvestment which could provide new potentials for large corporations and SMEs.

2The BRT welcomed the joint statement published on the occasion of the 18th EUJapan Summit held on 4 May 2009 in Prague. BRT Members welcome in particular
the announcement that Japanese and European Authorities agreed to strengthen
their cooperation with a view to exploiting better the full potential of their economic
relationship. BRT Members give their strong support to putting the focus on a few
specific non-tariff issues which are expected to bring concrete outcomes in amutually beneficial way and in a short-term period.

3. Immediate Action Items – Requests to Japan and the EU
Short summaries of working party reports
Multilateral & Bilateral Trade Relations, Investment and Regulatory
Cooperation• Further advancement of governmental discussion at the highest political level towork towards an ambitious reduction of restrictions to trade and investment
between the EU and Japan. This political will should be translated into concrete,measurable improvements in the business and trade environment. Focus should
be set on a broad range of issues, such as harmonisation of regulatory processes,
mutual acceptance of product standards and certifications, competition rules,services and procurement.
• In the current global economic crisis, Japan and the European Union should work
together towards further liberalisation of trade and investment and the preventionof protectionism. The European and Japanese business communities urge theirpolitical leaders to adhere to their commitments of the London G20 meeting inorder to prevent both the closing of world-wide markets and the introduction of
new restrictions on investments, market access and mobility for workers.
Moreover, the European and Japanese Authorities should give their strong
support to the role of the WTO in the fight against protectionism and request all
the WTO members and countries negotiating WTO accession to explain, justify or
defend any future protectionist measures before the WTO monitoring system.
Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Healthcare & Well-Being• To increase the cooperation between the EU and Japan and enhance global
competitiveness, we suggest a number of actions that would strengthen a joint
approach in the area of Life Sciences, biotechnology, healthcare and well-being:• Eliminate barriers to the creation of innovative drugs and medical devices
throughout the whole value chain, especially with regard to the appropriate
evaluation of innovations and patient access to them in every national healthcare
system.
• Promote the “public understanding of life sciences and biotechnologies” so that
GMOs, biofuels, etc. are recognised as powerful and necessary technologies forachieving a sustainable society in the future.
• Increase spending for research on biotechnology and support the collaborative
development of biotechnologies by international cooperation.
• Benchmark the EU and Japanese policy strategies and legislation/regulations inLife Sciences and Health in order to stimulate market introduction ofbiotechnology products made by innovative technologies and to use the positive
aspects and advantages of both policies.
• Set up a common task force to analyse which global incentives could be worked
out to stimulate or support the reconversion towards a bio-based economy.

3Information & Communication Technologies• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are key facilitators foreconomic recovery, and the EU and Japan have taken a leading role in deploying
high-performance broadband infrastructures, with currently 40% of global
broadband lines in the EU and Japan. Governments should promote Next
Generation Networks as key drivers for economic recovery and to improve thelong-term competitiveness of EU and Japan.
• ICT also can be instrumental in achieving a Low-Carbon Society. Studies fromJapan and the EU show great potentials for the reduction of GHG by making allenvironmental activities measurable, reportable and verifiable. Governments
should support the development of common metrics and processes for GHGreductions.
• To overcome the global issues, further utilisation of ICT is essential. The Round
Table recommends the maintenance of the WTO’s Information Technology
Agreement (ITA), which has led to greater innovation, productivity, trade
investment and economic growth worldwide. To expedite the advanced usage ofICT, we recommend further public private partnership in shaping collaborative
policies to assure dependability and information security of new services andtechnologies such as Cloud Computing, and in advancing e-Government
developments.
Financial Services; Accounting and Taxation• While we agree that the EU countries and Japan should implement reforms
based on the common principles upheld by the G20 Summit, we note that
innovation is also important and that a careful balance must be struck between
innovativeness and regulation.
• To mitigate the pro-cyclicality of bank’s capital requirements, the G20 leadersagreed to raise the bank’s capital buffer above the required minimum when theeconomy recovers and allow banks to decrease that buffer during economic
downturns to sustain smooth lending. We need to be fully aware that a policy ofraising capital buffers or minimum capital levels in response to the business cycle
involves the risk of exacerbating the pro-cyclicality of capital requirements shouldsuch policy be implemented at the wrong time. We assert that the determinationof when the economy is recovering should be made prudently.
• We support the trends toward the enhancement of the governance of theaccounting standard setting bodies and the convergence of accounting standards,
and look forward to the further developments.
Innovation, Environment and Sustainable Development• Innovation is required to mitigate climate change and its consequences as far aspossible. Key areas are improving energy efficiency, better technologies forenergy supply and storage, development of products based on renewable
resources, and innovative mobility concepts. Public authorities should give theirstrong support to the private sector in innovation projects related to climatechange; also cooperation between industries and research institutions should beenhanced.
• It is vital to have all major emitting countries participate in the post-2012
framework in a responsible manner. Without the participation of major emitters,
any international agreement will not be effective in reducing climate change andits fairness will be compromised as well. It is important to agree on the reduction
volume for stabilising GHG concentration, based on scientific evidence and toshare reasonable and feasible long-term targets of reducing and deterring GHG
emissions. Dissemination of existing low-carbon technologies and development4•of breakthrough technology is essential for significant GHG reduction in the longterm. A public-private specialised function should be set to create an innovative
framework to promote technology transfer, which ensures protection ofintellectual property rights.
To reduce GHG emissions, it is essential to promote reducing reliance on fossil
fuels across the economy. Increased utilisation of renewable energy, such as
solar, wind, hydro and biomass energy is essential. Nuclear power generation
should be promoted among clean energies. Furthermore, the EU and Japanese
Authorities should continue their “green policies” beyond the current economic
stimulus plans.

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