EU-Japan Business Round Table
The EU-Japan Business Round Table (BRT) was created in 1999 and is made up of around 50 CEOs/senior executives from leading EU and Japanese firms and meets once a year to review the factors affecting all aspects of business cooperation between the EU and Japan, and to make policy Recommendations to the European Commission and Japanese Government.
The BRT Annual Meeting concludes with the submission of detailed Recommendations to the EU and Japanese Authorities on how they can promote trade, particularly focusing on recommendations for regulatory reform.
Each year, the Japanese Government and European Commission submit Progress Reports outlining how they have enacted the Recommendations submitted at the previous BRT Annual Meeting. EU Commissioners, Japanese Government Ministers and senior civil servants always attend the Round Table, to give oral reports and take part in a Q&A session.
The work of the BRT is prepared by the Round Table’s working parties.
Currently there are working parties on: “Multilateral & Bilateral Trade Relations, Investment and Regulatory Cooperation”, “Life Sciences & Biotechnology; Healthcare & Well-Being”, “Innovation; Information & Communication Technologies”, “Financial Services; Accounting & Taxation”, “Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development”.
New ones are created in response to need. Each BRT member company nominates a “sherpa” to join a working party and to help draft the Recommendations for the annual meeting.
As the Round Table’s secretariat, the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation organises its annual plenary meetings and maintains its website.
Full details on the Business Round Table website: http://www.eu-japan-brt.eu
