On 6 September 2022, Jean-Eric Paquet, the former Director-General for Research and Innovation and a former Deputy Secretary-General (2015-2018) at the European Commission, submitted a copy of his credentials to Mr Takeo Mori, Japan’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, thereby allowing him to take up his duties as Ambassador-Designate of the European Union to Japan.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell nominated Mr Paquet for the post on 8 June 2022.
Ambassador-Designate Paquet said: “Earlier this year, I visited the country to explore how the EU and Japan can boost collaboration in research and innovation further by initiating exploratory negotiations on Japan's possible association to Horizon Europe. Today, I am settling into my new office as Ambassador-Designate in Japan. I look forward collaborating with one of the EU's closest and like-minded partners. This relationship between the EU and Japan is founded on long-standing collaboration, shared values and principles such as democracy, the rule of law, human rights, good governance, multilateralism, as well as free and fair trade.”