24th Annual Meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table
15 November 2022, Tokyo“EU & Japan – Going Digital, Going Green”
JOINT RECOMMENDATIONS
The 24th Annual Meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table (‘BRT’) took place in Tokyo and addressedgreen, digital, and other issues of common interest. It was the first time in three years that Europe and Japanbased BRT Members and representatives of the EU and Japanese Authorities were able to meet in person.
Additional participants joined the meeting remotely. The BRT’s 84 members are business leaders, with two thirds
coming from large companies, and a third from SMEs, business associations, chambers of commerce and otherorganisations. The meeting was co-chaired by Masaki Sakuyama, Senior Corporate Advisor to Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation and by Philippe Wahl, Chairman and CEO of La Poste Groupe1.
YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Since the BRT’s last Annual Meeting in November 2021, much has changed for our respective economies, withthese changes keenly being followed by the BRT’s members such as through the BRT co-Chair’s 19 May Joint
Statement2 applauding the success and promise of EU-Japan relations seen in the new Digital Partnership that
had been announced at the EU-Japan Summit held on 12 May 2022.
The current geo-economic context including surging energy costs, inflation, and further risks of disruption inglobal supply chains has impacted upon the normal course of business and highlights even more the continued
value of promoting cooperation between Japan and the EU as like-minded partners.
2022 BRT ANNUAL MEETING THEMESThe BRT and its Members stand at the forefront of elaborating, fostering, and enabling the transformations taking
place within business, industry, societies and communities, and see ‘Digital’ and ‘Green’ as pillars that the BRT
can build upon. Other topics of mutual interest addressed during the ‘Frontiers’ discussion are also essential.
2022 BRT JOINT RECOMMENDATIONS
On the topic of ‘DIGITAL’, the BRT highlights the following topics and their respective approaches:
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION & THE JAPAN-EU DIGITAL PARTNERSHIP•The BRT enthusiastically welcomes the Japan-EU Digital Partnership launched in May this year3.

•The BRT welcomes the decision to launch negotiations between the two parties for the inclusion ofprovisions on the free flow of data into the EU-Japan EPA and calls for an ambitious and early outcome4.

•In that context, the BRT supports the expansion of EU-Japan cooperation in utilising Data Free Flowwith Trust (DFFT); cyber resilience of digital infrastructure; open and secure 5G/6G; ensuring theconsistency of policies and standards related to AI, robotics, and cyber security.

•The BRT also strongly supports the acceleration of Green Transformation (‘GX’) to effectively utilise
digital technologies (‘DX’). Now is the time to realise the synergic effects of ‘Green by Digital’.

1

https://www.eu-japan-brt.eu/brt-members
See https://www.eu-japan-brt.eu/sites/eu-japan-brt.eu/files/recommendations/brt_ejs2022_final_en.pdf
3
See https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/56091/%E6%9C%80%E7%B5%82%E7%89%88-jp-eu-digital-partnershipclean-final-docx.pdf
4
See https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-and-japan-start-negotiations-include-rules-cross-border-data-flowstheir-economic-partnership-2022-10-07_en.
2Page 1 of 4

DIGITAL UPTAKE FOR SMES
•SMEs are the economic foundation for many countries and regions. The BRT wholeheartedly
recommends that SMEs should be a focus for digital transformation with the provision of solutions andecosystems for SMEs regarding digital security, online platforms and blockchain ecosystems. Solutions
should also minimise, mitigate, and where possible, remove the risks for SMEs that face missed or
unknown opportunities, barriers to adoption, and risks of losing out to larger, early adapters.

On the theme of ‘GREEN’, the BRT highlights the following topics and their respective approaches:
PATHS TO CARBON NEUTRALITY & ENERGY TRANSITION•

The BRT welcomes the establishment of the Climate Club5 and stresses that a realistic transition should
also be considered carefully by the EU and Japan. The BRT supports the implementation of the EU
taxonomy as a key lever to drive green investments but underlines that it should be more in line withbusiness realities so as not to hamper business development. The BRT also welcomes Japan’sestablishment of a GX Implementation Council announced in July6.

•The BRT supports efforts by the private and public sectors to enhance energy efficiency, wise
consumption, and transitions. In the longer term, energy efficiency is also an essential component inachieving net zero emissions.

BIODIVERSITY & BIOECONOMY•The BRT considers that there is a strong case for strengthening efforts such as the Strategic Plan for
Biodiversity 2011-2020, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action
Plans (NBSAPs) 7 . The BRT also believes innovative technologies will have a key role in solving
problems in a broad spectrum of fields such as medical care, food, and environmental conservation.

On the theme of ‘FRONTIERS’, the BRT highlights the following topics and their respective approaches:
RESILIENT ECONOMIES, SOCIETIES, CITIES AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE•Japan and the EU are strongly encouraged to leverage the EU-Japan EPA and strengthen ties with likeminded countries to rebuild supply chains and secure stable supplies of energy and food, and introduce
disaster prevention and mitigation solutions that make social infrastructure more resilient to disasters.

REGULATORY COOPERATION & COOPERATION IN THIRD COUNTRY MARKETS•The BRT welcomes the continuous efforts by the EU and Japanese Authorities on regulatory
cooperation though policy dialogues and emphasises the importance of attempts made by the 12th WTO
Ministerial Conference in recognising the significance and urgency of responding to the challenges andconcerns regarding the moratorium on e-commerce, as well as the dispute settlement system, including
the WTO Appellate Body. The EU and Japan should seek ways and means to expand and strengthen
cooperation in third country markets through active and mutually beneficial projects and initiatives.

•The BRT underlines that enhanced EU-Japan industrial cooperation for stable, predictable, and growing
economies can be attained through properly functioning and resilient supply chains.

EDUCATION AND EQUALITY – ‘EMPOWERING WOMEN’•The BRT welcomes the fact that Japan will host the 2022 World Assembly for Women in Tokyo on 03
December 2022, with its focuses on ‘technological innovation and human resource development’,‘diversity and corporate management’, ‘the future of the family’, among others. The BRT considers
initiatives such as these an encouraging sign and pathway for empowering women8.

WORKING PARTY RECOMMENDATION HIGHLIGHTS
5

See https://www.g7germany.de/resource/blob/974430/2057926/2a7cd9f10213a481924492942dd660a1/2022-06-28g7-climate-club-data.pdf
6
See https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/actions/202207/_00021.html
7
See https://www.cbd.int/sp/
8
See https://www.mofa.go.jp/fp/pc/page23e_000181.html

Page 2 of 4

The BRT also endorses the Recommendations to the Authorities prepared by its four Working Parties.
The full sets of recommendations from the Working Parties are available as separate documents9, while key,overarching points that each Working Party would like to highlight can be found below:(WP1) Trade Relations; Investment and Regulatory Cooperation; Financial Services, Accounting and Taxation:•Reinforce the negotiating pillar of the WTO to better disseminate the benefits of global value chains andrenew the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, noting that the custom duty-free
distribution of electronic transmissions is at the core of technological innovation and the digital economy.

•Advance regulatory cooperation for eliminating barriers to trade and investment including digital issues
in order to foster economic growth and a human-centric digital transformation and promoting
harmonisation to ultimately remove the need for re-testing or re-approval for the ‘other’ market.

•Ensure timely negotiations on bilateral/regional agreements on personnel movements under COVID-19and future pandemics so that business people can travel between the EU and Japan and companies canbring in new top management such as CEOs, and specialists such as engineers, without hindrance.

(WP2) Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Healthcare and Well-Being:•Continuously review the current pricing system for pharmaceuticals to strengthen the reward forinnovation, thereby maintaining incentives for companies to develop new drugs and bringing themrapidly to patients in Japan to meet their needs, without delay from key EU countries.

•Promote regulatory reform to accelerate international regulatory harmonisation and apply more flexible
evaluation processes for breakthrough products to adapt to rapidly evolving innovations.

•Promote emerging technologies for biopesticides, biostimulants and RNA interference and harmonise
registration systems to mutually accept such technologies which are needed for sustainable agriculture
and food production.

(WP3) Digital Innovation & Mobility:• Strengthen EU-Japan Cooperation to realise DFFT by global digital trade rule-making, EU-Japan EPA,
EU-Japan Digital Partnership and social implementation of digital technologies.
• Strengthen cooperation between the EU and Japan in advanced research and development towards 6G,
and promote open 5G networks, encourage free and vigorous competition in the 5G equipment market,
and enhance the resilience of the supply chain.
• Support, develop, and implement human-centered, trusted AI applications to protect citizens’
fundamental rights.
(WP4) Environment & Sustainable Development:• Find technologically and economically viable options and take a flexible approach with a reasonable andrealistic transition period utilising digital technologies as much as possible towards achieving an
ambitious target for a decarbonised society.
• Continue to lead international discussions regarding natural capital and biodiversity and promote thestudy and development of the natural capital value of forests and develop policies that encourage businessto support providing solutions and services contributing to the sustainability of agriculture by using thelatest digital technologies.
• Address with utmost priority the development and implementation of secure, safe, resilient, and highquality city infrastructures that consider life-cycle cost, which is essential for realising sustainable andinclusive societies and promote policies to develop infrastructure for data utilisation.

9The individual Working Party documents can be found at https://www.eu-japan-brt.eu/annual-meeting-2022

Page 3 of 4

ADDITIONAL ASPECTS FOR STRENGTHENING THE EU-JAPAN PARTNERSHIPThe BRT calls on the EU and Japan to strengthen their cooperation on research and innovation in science andtechnology as common areas of strategic importance. For that purpose, the BRT welcomes the EU and Japanese
Authorities’ discussions on Japan’s position as a potential associated country in the Horizon Europe Research &Innovation Framework Programme.
The BRT also sees great promise in the expanded standardisation in industries for promoting interoperability,
ensuring safety, reducing costs, promoting innovation, and transitioning to green and digital.
Japan and the EU will continue to strengthen cooperation in both the public and private sectors as importantpartners sharing values such as freedom, democracy, rule of law, and human rights with common interests
essential for addressing current and future challenges. To this end, the BRT welcomes the fact that the EU andJapan held their second High-level Economic Dialogue on 25 October10 where they confirmed their strategicalignment on key economic and geopolitical issues, addressed new economic policies and ambitions anddiscussed other issues.

10

See https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-and-japan-strengthen-economic-cooperation-through-high-leveldialogue-2022-10-25_en and https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press1_001122.html

Page 4 of 4