The 21st annual meeting of the EU-Japan Business Round Table (BRT) took place in Brussels on Wednesday, 15 May 2019.

The main BRT website has two pages on the annual meeting - one has photos, videos and documents from the 15 May meeting and subsequent meeting with PM Abe, and the other has tweets and other social media articles about the discussions.

The BRT has more than 50 members - senior executives from leading EU and Japanese companies / business organisations. They meet annually, together with senior representatives of the Japanese and EU Authorities to discuss issues of common interest affecting industry and broader society, and to agree detailed recommendations which will be submitted to the EU and Japanese Authorities.

The 2019 meeting will addressed a wide range of issues:

1. Future EU-Japan Cooperation on Climate Issues, Innovation, and Sustainable Finance for Growth
2. Digital Economy (IoT, AI, data governance, eHealth, 5G & networks)
3. The UK's Withdrawal from the EU (Brexit)
4. Bilateral Investment / Investment Cooperation in Third Countries (Quality infrastructure investment and international initiatives as the foundations for sustainable growth)
5. Helping SMEs take advantage of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
6. EU-Japan overall economic cooperation in a challenging global environment
7. Circular Economy, SDGs (Climate, environment, social)
8. Building on the EU-Japan EPA - Advancing regulatory cooperation, free trade, WTO reform, untying market distorting measures
9. Developing the EU-Japan agri-food industry under the EU-Japan EPA

More information about the BRT can be found on its website