His groundbreaking proposal, to become known as the Schuman Declaration, laid the foundations for the EU we know today; a unique mechanism under which member states hand over part of their sovereignty and jointly decide on key policies that not only impact their citizens, but, with the Lisbon Treaty of 2009, now also allows the EU to speak and act as one on the global stage.
What began as a plan to jointly manage coal and steel among six countries so as to make war impossible has since evolved into a truly European project, bringing together 28 nations large and small to create a union with a total population of more than 500 million. Nineteen of these countries currently use the same currency, the euro, one of the most tangible symbols of European unity.
This year, we mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. All around the world, there will be remembrance and reflection on how far we have come, and I also hope this will help us in considering how we work toward building the future. During these seven decades, the European continent has largely been at peace, with no major wars occurring within its borders.
In his declaration, Schuman stated, "The contribution which an organized and living Europe can bring to civilization is indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations." I genuinely believe that his words have withstood the test of time, and 65 years on, they still hold true.
While many in Japan may still see the EU as being mainly an economic player, thanks to its massive single market and active pursuit of free trade, we should not forget that it is playing an increasingly crucial role in foreign affairs and security.
The EU's external policies, strategies, instruments and missions support stability, promote human rights and democracy, seek to spread prosperity and support the enforcement of the rule of law and good governance. The EU institutions and member states are together the world's largest donor of both humanitarian assistance as well as development aid.
The EU's Common Security and Defense Policy enables us to take a leading role in peacekeeping operations, conflict prevention and in the strengthening of international security. It is an integral part of the EU's comprehensive approach toward crisis management, drawing on civilian and military assets. Since 2003, the EU has launched some 30 peace missions and operations contributing to stabilization and security in Europe and beyond. One that will be particularly familiar to our Japanese friends is the counter-piracy operation we are undertaking in the Gulf of Aden, in which we are cooperating closely with Japan's Self-Defense Forces.
For a few years now, EU and Japanese leaders have been working to bring the EU-Japan relationship to a higher level, to deliver benefits not only to our citizens, but to the international community. I believe this is increasingly becoming a reality, and am keenly aware that, having become EU ambassador to Japan late last year, I have taken up this post at a very exciting time.
Europe and Japan not only share and uphold values and principles such as democracy, human rights and a rules-based and peaceful world order, we are also stepping up tangible cooperation in areas ranging from trade and investment, to defense and security to innovation and people-to-people exchanges.
The EU Delegation to Japan has so far been successful in fostering a solid working relationship between the EU and Japan. This good work should be continued, in cooperation with our Japanese partners, but I also believe the time is now ripe to challenge our established pattern of bilateral relations, to push the envelope and bring our cooperation and collaboration to our respective regions, and also to the wider, international community.
This year's EU-Japan Summit will be held in Tokyo on May 29, and it will be the first time that the new EU leaders, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, visit Japan in their current capacities. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini; and European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström are also to take part. I am certain that leaders on both sides will be very keen to confirm their continued commitment to take the bilateral relationship to a new level.
The relationship between Europe and Japan has come a long way since the 1970s, when the focus was very much on trade and the two sides had to grapple with the thorny issue of trade friction. In fact, the forerunner of the present-day EU delegation here was set up in 1974, to try to sort out such problems and pave the way toward a more constructive and future-oriented relationship.
My predecessors, as well as their counterparts and interlocutors on the Japanese side, have been successful in this effort. Four decades on, I can confidently say that EU-Japan relations have blossomed, and that the extent of our cooperation would have been very hard to imagine for those who toiled during those years.
My role is to enforce the ambitious programs and road maps agreed to during last year's bilateral summit. First and foremost of these is the successful conclusion of the two sets of negotiations that are currently ongoing in parallel: toward a political Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) and a comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement (economic partnership agreement).
The SPA is envisioned to be a political framework agreement that would help expand and strengthen our wider partnership and better enable us to face evolving global challenges together, providing a sound structure for deeper political, global and sectoral cooperation. The EU and Japan are already strategic partners — Japan is one of the four strategic partners the EU has in Asia, the others being China, South Korea and India — but we need to go beyond our existing bilateral relations, and we must cooperate more in regional and international fora, where our joint efforts can make a huge difference.
We cooperate with Japan on the political front in the fields of foreign and security policy, exchanging experiences and information on crises in our respective neighborhoods. We practice joint solidarity and support, from the aforementioned counter-piracy activities to sanctions cooperation, election monitoring, and the exchanges on cyber issues and space policy that were launched last autumn. We also share views on the changing strategic environment in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, the Mideast, North Africa and Eastern Europe, as well as the global energy situation.
On the trade front, negotiators on both sides have been covering all topics on the table, including non-tariff barriers, procurement and tariff issues, during the last round of FTA talks held in Tokyo last month. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed his desire to see the negotiations concluded by the end of this year. The EU is indeed aware of this and is willing to work toward that goal, provided that the conditions and the level of ambition are right. There are areas where much work still needs to be done, and the clock is ticking if we are to be looking to conclude the talks this year.
We have seen great strides made in our bilateral relationship in the area of science, technology and innovation, which I would also like to see continue. We both have top-class facilities and world-leading researchers, and our societies face common challenges such as an aging society, climate change and energy security that research and innovation can help address. There remains a lot of unfulfilled potential here that I hope can be tapped into further.
On a lighter note, I strongly believe that people-to-people exchanges are very important in helping our like-minded societies get to know and understand each other better. Citizens are, after all, the building blocks of our societies and our bilateral relationship. I am very keen on developing such grass-roots ties further during my tenure. I think we can encourage more direct links with, for example, civic organizations, local governments, universities and more. People-to-people exchanges can help break the "glass curtain" that separates Europe and Japan so that everyone can understand each other better.
The delegation actively undertakes a wide range of events to reach out to the general public in Japan, through regional networks such as the 14 EU Associations set up across the country. This month, we will again be organizing highly successful annual undertakings such as the European Higher Education Fair, where we showcase the wide range of education opportunities that Europe has to offer, and the EU Film Days, which gives audiences a chance to see the diversity and depth of European cinema. This year, both events will also be organized in the city of Kyoto in addition to Tokyo.
All in all, there is much more that we can expect from our bilateral partnership. I am certain that the upcoming EU-Japan Summit will add further impetus to ongoing efforts, at all levels, to build the current relationship into a deeper and comprehensive one.
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