Japan and EU agree to further deepen cooperation as strategic interests converge

Japan and the European Union have agreed to further deepen bilateral ties, launching a strategic dialogue on security issues and laying the ground for closer cooperation in areas such as emerging technologies, supply chain diversification, semiconductors and green energy, as their strategic interests increasingly converge.

The agreements, which also included the EU’s lifting of remaining import restrictions on Japanese food products linked to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, were part of a joint statement issued by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen following a summit Thursday in Brussels.

“We (Japan and the EU) need each other more than ever for our security and our economic resilience, and we are closer than ever,” Von der Leyen told joint news briefing, highlighting how the strategic partners are increasingly aligning their outlooks over areas of common concern, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rise of China, but also the need to uphold the global rules-based order and navigate the intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry.

Among the top deliverables was a decision to launch a strategic dialogue at the foreign ministerial level to ramp up security cooperation, particularly in the areas of hybrid, maritime and cybersecurity threats.

“We are ... increasing our engagement in the region, because we know that Indo-Pacific security and European security are indivisible,” von der Leyen said, adding that the new dialogue mechanism is meant to boost coordination on “unprecedented challenges to peace and security.”

Tokyo and the 27-member bloc also reiterated their opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion “anywhere in the world.”

They also said they would explore and pursue diverse opportunities for cooperation, including joint exercises in the Indo-Pacific, while also helping beef up Southeast Asian nations’ defense capabilities, apparently with China in mind.

The strategic dialogue announcement came only a day after Japan and the NATO military alliance upgraded ties by reaching a new agreement to collaborate in several new areas, including cyber, emerging and disruptive technologies, and countering disinformation.

Sebastian Maslow, a Japan security expert and lecturer at Sendai Shirayuri Women's College, said the EU initiatives should not be seen as a contradiction with Japan’s NATO partnership but rather as an additional layer of Tokyo’s efforts to counterbalance China.

With Brussels embracing Tokyo’s vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, these steps are also meant to send a clear signal to China and Russia, Maslow noted, adding that he believes Tokyo will work hard to secure a more sustained European presence in the East and South China seas through joint military drills with EU members.

“With the EU explicitly defining peace across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable for the international community, both Tokyo and Brussels will emphasize the need for regional stability, while cooperating more closely to contain China,” he added.

Tokyo and the EU, which vowed to continue tough sanctions on Moscow, also agreed to closer cooperation on economic security, including diversifying supply chains for critical raw materials to reduce overreliance on a handful of suppliers, most of which are based in China.

“We will continue to reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, including in our respective supply chains, and will de-risk and diversify where necessary and appropriate,” the two sides said in a joint statement.

The EU's Ambassador to Japan, Jean-Eric Paquet, told the The Japan Times that this includes addressing nonmarket policies and practices, economic coercion and other harmful practices through existing tools and stronger international rules and norms.

For instance, the summit also resulted in a cooperation arrangement between the EU Commission and the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security that will focus on risk monitoring, diversification, research and innovation, and joint investment opportunities related to critical raw materials, Paquet added.

Indeed, economic security is viewed by experts as one of the most promising areas of bilateral cooperation, since EU-Japan trade now accounts for almost a fourth of global gross domestic product after the two sides signed a free trade agreement in 2019.

Eva Pejsova, Japan Chair at the Brussels School of Governance’s Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, said that while neither Brussels and Tokyo are looking to cut economic ties with China — opting for “de-risking” instead of “decoupling” — Beijing’s track record of economic coercion has raised alarm.

The EU in particular, which in June unveiled its own economic security strategy, has pledged to intensify efforts to acquire critical raw materials from countries in Africa and Latin America. Brussels says the aim is to minimize the risks from increased geopolitical tensions and accelerated technological shifts, while preserving maximum levels of economic openness and dynamism.

“Japan has a long experience with reducing dependency on strategic commodities from China that the EU and other partners are keen to learn from,” Pejsova said. “Conversely, the EU’s approach to countering economic coercion can be a useful inspiration to Japan and other regional partners.”

This cooperation also extends to semiconductors, with Tokyo and Brussels signing a memorandum of cooperation covering research and development for next-generation chips, subsidy transparency and an early warning mechanism for semiconductor supply chains.

The two sides also committed to boosting their digital partnership and continuing research cooperation in several areas, including connected automated mobility, high performance computing, quantum technology, 6G and artificial intelligence. Von der Leyen said both sides not only want to reap the benefits of AI, but also ensure that their AI-based products don’t end up in countries that could use them for military ends.

The EU Commission chief also spoke of plans to deploy the first fiber-optic subsea cable across the Arctic linking Europe to Japan via North America as part of an internet infrastructure project.

Japan and the EU also agreed to create a cooperative framework as part of their “Green Alliance” efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. They pledged to intensify cooperation in both infrastructure projects and areas such as grid technologies, hydropower, offshore wind and low-carbon and renewable hydrogen.

Kishida emphasized the growing importance of hydrogen for several projects, including in the automobile industry, as the two sides agreed to cooperate on research and development, finance and other support measures to promote it as a key energy source for the future.

The Japanese leader also returns home with a clear win on the domestic front, after Brussels agreed to drop the remaining restrictions on food products from Fukushima, with Kishida saying the move will help support the areas affected by the March 2011 nuclear disaster.

Brussels, which said the decision was based on science, said the two sides also agreed to resolve remaining trade issues over the course of this year, in particular, access for European agricultural products to the Japanese market.

Celine Pajon, a Japan expert at the French Institute of International Relations, said the latest EU-Japan summit marks an acceleration of the strategic partnership by providing concrete projects to flesh out cooperation and expand coordination in the security arena, including on the economic security front.

The summit takes stock of the geostrategic developments over the past three years, notably the COVID pandemic and the disruption of global supply chains, the intensifying tensions in Asia and the subsequent adoption of an EU Indo-Pacific cooperation strategy, and finally Russia’s war on Ukraine and its global implications, Pajon said.

“Japan and the EU have realized that they are like-minded partners facing similar challenges and sharing one security theater,” she added.

Pejsova, citing the relationship’s many policy frameworks and agreements reached in recent years, said ties have been “taking off,” noting that “the political will and momentum is there” for even stronger cooperation. But where do bilateral ties go from here?

The key lies in how these deals will be implemented.

In the near to midterm, the main challenge will be to highlight substantial progress to demonstrate the growth of the relationship, Pejsova added.