EU and Japan?

The EU relationship with Japan, founded on the 2001 Action Plan , is determined by both sides being advanced industrialised democracies who share many common interests and values. The scope of the overall relationship has broadened in recent years along the lines of the action plan and now goes far beyond the earlier trade-related focus of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Cooperation takes place at all levels culminating in the EU - Japan annual summit meetings and covers foreignpolicy, economic and trade relations and regional and global challenges. The EU and Japan actively participate in each other’s reform processes through the Regulatory Reform Dialogue . In addition, we engage in a host of other sectoral dialogues, dealing with the Environment, Information Society, Science & Technology, Trade, Financial Services, Industrial Policy etc. We also cooperate closely in international and multilateral fora such as the UN, WTO, and the G8. Contacts between the peoples, academics and business communities of the EU and Japan are being promoted through the activities of ‘EU Centres’ in Japan and cooperation in the field of education, as well as through business dialogue and a number of programmes offering training in Japan to European executives. Source: Japan: europa.eu