BRUSSELS -- European Union Commission President Romano Prodi will embark on an official visit to Japan later this week to pave the way for the EU-Japan summit in July and to discuss a variety of international issues.
These include the Middle East crisis, tensions in the steel market, the Kyoto Protocol and Japan's economic reform agenda.
Prodi will lead an EU Commission team to Tokyo from Thursday to Saturday and hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other officials to prepare for the annual EU-Japan summit scheduled for early July in Tokyo.