Japan-EU Relations
Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by the EU Japan Business Round Table (BRT) Co Chairman Kazuo Tsukuda
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
On Thursday, April 20, for approximately 20 minutes from 5:55 p.m., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from the EU-Japan Business Round Table (BRT) Co-Chairman Kazuo Tsukuda (Senior Executive Adviser of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.) and BRT Co-Chairman Fabrice Brégier (President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airbus). The summary of the meeting is as follows.
1. At the beginning of the meeting, BRT Co-Chairman Brégier handed Prime Minister Abe a set of Joint Recommendations to the Governments of Japan and the EU, which was adopted at the BRT Annual Meeting of this year. Subsequently, BRT Co-Chairman Tsukuda handed Her Excellency Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.
2. BRT Co-Chairman Tsukuda, having explained the summary of the Recommendations, introduced the discussions at the BRT Annual Meeting of this year such as the expectation for the agreement in principle on the Japan-EU EPA during this year.
3. BRT Co-Chairman Brégier stated that he hoped the Recommendations would contribute to the strengthening of the partnership between Japan and the EU and to conclusion of the Japan-EU EPA negotiations.
4. Subsequently, Commissioner Bieńkowska stated that recommendations from the businesses were important for the acceleration of the negotiations on the Japan-EU EPA as well as the economic relations between Japan and the EU, while expressing her gratitude for the Recommendations.
5. Finally, Prime Minister Abe, having expressed his gratitude to Co-Chairs and others of BRT, stated that he would like to issue at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit
a message towards sustainable and robust growth of the world economy. He also stated that he would work toward agreement in principle on the Japan-EU EPA during this year.
