Annual meeting 2002

4th BRT Annual Meeting, Tokyo, 07 - 09 July 2002:

"A NEW STAGE OF EU-JAPAN BUSINESS - PROMOTING FOREIGN TRADE AND INVESTMENT WHILE REFORMING AND RESTRUCTURING DOMESTIC MARKETS"

The EU-Japan Business Round Table took place from 7 to 9 July 2002 in Tokyo, overlapping with the 11th EU-Japan Summit. The BRT annual meeting was co-chaired by Messrs. Étienne Davignon and Tadahiro Sekimoto.

The meeting concluded with a change in Chairman on the Japan-side with Yotaro Kobayashi (Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) succeeding Tadahiro Sekimoto (NEC Corporation). After the meeting, Messrs Kobayashi, Davignon and Jacobs held a press conference.

Various documents are available from the meeting:

• Meeting agenda
• Press Release
• Summary of Recommendations
• Recommendations - WP 1 - Trade and Investment
• Recommendations - WP 2 - Accounting and Tax Issues
• Recommendations - WP 4 - Mutual Recognition Agreement
• Recommendations - WP 5 - Information and Communication Technology
• Recommendations - WP 6 - World Trade Organization

Other documents relating to the work of the BRT in 2002:

• The 2003 Progress Reports from the European Commission and the Government of Japan, prepared in response to the BRT's 2002 Recommendations
• Commissioner Liikanen's participation in the BRT annual meeting was announced in the EC Commissioners' Weekly Calendar for the week beginning 8 July 2002:
  

Submission of Recommendations to the EU-Japan Summit

09/07/2002 - Etienne Davignon and Tadahiro Sekimoto hand delivered the BRT's 2002 Joint Recommendations to PM Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen (for the EU Council Presidency) and European Commission President Romano Prodi who were attending the annual EU-Japan Summit.

The formal 'handover' of the BRT's 2002 Recommendations to the Summit Leaders was previewed in two press releases:

• A European Commission press release of 05/07/2002 entitled "President Prodi to visit Japan and Singapore":

Format of the Summit :

The Summit will take place on 8th July at the new official residence of Prime Minister Koizumi. It will start at 12.40 with the submission of a report to summit leaders by representatives of the EU-Japan Business Dialogue Round Table. The actual summit will then start at 13hrs. with a working lunch, followed by a plenary session which ends at 15.45. There will be a joint press conference by summit leaders at 16hrs at the Prime Minister residence.

• A Japanese Government press release of 04/07/2002 entitled "The 11th Japan-EU Summit":

On this occasion, the EU-Japan Business Dialogue Roundtable (EUJBDRT), a forum for dialogue between Japanese and European business leaders, will take place on 7-9 July in Tokyo. The co-chairs of the EUJBDRT will submit their recommendations to Prime Minister Koizumi, Prime Minister Rasmussen and President Prodi. Mr. Shigeo Uetake, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, will attend part of the EUJBDRT meeting.

The BRT was also referred to in two official documents issued after the 11th EU-Japan Summit:

• In the Outline and Evaluation:

Summary of the talks
(1) Japan-EU relations

The leaders confirmed that Japan and the EU will steadily implement and develop the Action Plan for EU-Japan Cooperation, which was adopted at the last summit in December 2001, and further deepen the strategic partnership between Japan and the EU. A Steering Group is to be set up to follow up on the Action Plan.

Prior to the meeting, the co-chairs of the EU-Japan Business Dialogue Roundtable (EUJBDRT), a forum for dialogue between Japanese and European business leaders, submitted their recommendations to Prime Minister Koizumi, Prime Minister Rasmussen, and President Prodi. The leaders encouraged the EUJBDRT to explore future perspectives for economic relations between Japan and the EU.

• And in the Summit's formal Joint Press Statement:

Leaders sent the following message:

We welcome the intensification of dialogue between Japan and the EU since the last Summit meeting in December 2001 in Brussels as evidenced by the steady implementation of initiatives set out in the Action Plan for EU-Japan Co-operation. We noted also that last April President Prodi was the first President of the European Commission to be invited to address the Diet. In the seven months since its adoption, the Action Plan has already acted as a catalyst for co-operation in many fields. Some of these achievements and our new priorities before the next Summit are set out in the annexes to this statement.

We are determined to work together to further intensify the co-operation foreseen in the Action Plan and to step up efforts to develop imaginative and practical initiatives under its four pillars, in time for the next Summit. In this regard, we also encourage input from business, academic circles and civil society as appropriate. Our authorities will follow up and report back on progress in these efforts to the next Summit meeting.

Indeed, at a meeting with representatives of the Business Dialogue Round Table (EUJBDRT) earlier in the day, we welcomed their recommendations and their willingness to identify concrete ideas to strengthen the economic relations, which is one of the key aims of the Action Plan. We encouraged them to pinpoint their recommendations further and to explore future perspectives for our economic relations in all relevant areas, on trade and investment issues in particular.

13/09/2002 - Messrs. Davignon and Sekimoto wrote to Prime Ministers Koizumi and Rasmussen and to President Prodi to send them the BRT's "Recommendations on Creating an Open Environment for Trade and Investment", "Recommendations on Accounting and Tax Issues", "Recommendations on Information and Communication Technology" and Press Release.

Photographs from the 2002 BRT

Photographs from the 2002 BRT annual meeting can be found at the bottom of this page. Click on an image to see an enlarged version.