Annual Meeting 2021

23rd EU-Japan Business Round Table Annual Meeting - 4 November 2021 - "THE EU & JAPAN TOGETHER - LEADING THE WAY FOR A MORE DIGITAL AND GREENER FUTURE"

On this webpage : Formal submission of the BRT's 2021 Recommendations to the Prime Minister of Japan | Details of the 23rd BRT annual meeting | Formal submission of the BRT's 2021 Recommendations to the European Commission | Cuttings from the 2021 annual meeting and subsequent handover to the Prime Minister of Japan.

Formal submission of the BRT's 2021 Recommendations to the Prime Minister of Japan

09 February 2022 - The joint recommendations of the European Union-Japan Business Round Table (BRT) were presented to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida by the two BRT co-chairs, Masaki Sakuyama (Senior Advisor at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation) and Philippe Wahl (Chairman and CEO of Le Groupe La Poste) who was represented by Michael Mroczek, Chair of the European Business Council in Japan, at a ceremony in Tokyo.

Adopted at last November's annual BRT Meeting, the recommendations noted the key aspects of digital transition, decarbonisation and trade regulatory cooperation towards a more digital and greener future for both sides. They also underlined the importance of the free movement of businesspeople, which has been strongly impacted by the COVID pandemic with risks of delayed and cancelled investments. EU Ambassador to Japan Patricia Flor as well as representatives from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also present.

During the handover:

• Mr Sakuyama gave an overview of the main discussion points and recommendations from the BRT’s 4 November 2021 annual meeting and hoped that the Japanese and EU Authorities would continue to promote cooperation in a wide range of fields, and to work together with the business community to advance policies.
• Mr Mroczek stated his confidence that EU-Japan cooperation will lead to a more digital and greener future and noted the importance of free movement of businesspeople and that disruption can impact on investments.
• PM Kishida expressed his gratitude for the strenuous support by the BRT for the Japan-EU EPA, stating that “NextGenerationEU” of the EU and the New Capitalism of the Government of Japan are both seeking new models of capitalism and therefore in line with each other. He also stated his willingness to continue working closely with Japanese and the EU industries to further strengthen Japan-EU relations.

Michael Mroczek (Chair of the European Business Council in Japan) representing Philippe Wahl (BRT EU-side Chair and Chairman & CEO of Le Groupe La Poste) observes Masaki Sakuyama (BRT Japan-side Chair and Senior Advisor at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation) submit the BRT’s 2021 Recommendations to Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan.	From left to right: EU Ambassador to Japan Patricia Flor; Michael Mroczek (Chair of the European Business Council in Japan) representing Philippe Wahl (BRT EU-side Chair and Chairman & CEO of Le Groupe La Poste); Masaki Sakuyama (BRT Japan-side Chair and Senior Advisor at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation); and Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan.

The handover was reported on the website of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (English page here and Japanese page here). For other reports and references to the handover see the 2021 Cuttings webpage.

Summary of the 23rd annual meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table

04 November 2021 - The 23rd annual meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table took place at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels and online on Thursday, 4 November 2021. For tweets, articles and other posts about the annual meeting see the 2021 Cuttings webpage.

The meeting focussed on digital issues (the EU-Japan digital transformation and the EU-Japan Digital Partnership), on green (the EU-Japan Green Alliance) and on trade and regulatory (EU-Japan industry, trade and regulatory cooperation). A special session assessed the prospects for trilateral (EU-Japan-US) industrial cooperation on green growth.

Session 1 - The BRT’s 2021 Recommendations

Session 2 - EU & Japan Digital Transformation

Formal submission of the BRT's 2021 Recommendations to the European Commission

Session 3 - EU-Japan Trade & Regulatory Cooperation

Session 4 - The EU-Japan Green Alliance

Special Session - Trilateral Discussion with the U.S. on the Potential for Trilateral Industrial Cooperation in Green Growth

All the photos, except for the one from Tokyo (of Messrs Uemura, Sakuyama & Tanabe) are © Imaginyou/E.Charneux

Meeting documents

• Meeting agenda (English version only)
• Joint Recommendations document (Japanese version also available)
• Working Party 1 report (Japanese version also available)
• Working Party 2 report (Japanese version also available)
• Working Party 3 report (Japanese version also available)
• Working Party 4 report (Japanese version also available)
• List of Members