EU-Japan Summit takes place in Brussels
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The 26th Summit between the European Union and Japan takes place this afternoon in Brussels, with the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, representing the European Union. Japan will be represented by its Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Federica Mogherini, Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, and Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, will also participate. The Summit will provide an opportunity for the EU and Japan to demonstrate their strong support for the rules-based international order, to promote multilateralism as well as free and fair global trade, and to coordinate in view of the upcoming G20 summit in Osaka. Leaders will review the implementation of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement, which were signed at last year’s summit. The Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2019, and in doing so has created the largest open trade zone in the world, with a marketplace home to 635 million people and representing just under a third of the world’s GDP. The Agreement removes the vast majority of the €1 billion of duties paid annually by EU companies exporting to Japan, and once fully implemented, will remove customs duties on 97% of goods imported to Japan from the EU. The Strategic Partnership Agreement, which provides an overarching framework for enhanced political and sectoral cooperation between the EU and Japan, as well as for joint actions on issues of common interest, has been applied on a provisional basis also since 1 February. The first Joint Committee meeting under the Strategic Partnership Agreement took place in Tokyo in March. Today’s Summit is expected to advance the EU-Japan partnership both on the bilateral and multilateral agendas, including on support to the rules-based international order with multilateralism, democracy, non-proliferation, open markets, and a global trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core. Leaders are also expected to discuss cooperation on data, connectivity, and security issues. Leaders will address the press at a joint press conference, scheduled to begin at 19:10 CET, to be broadcast live on EbS.
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