EU and Japan strengthen economic cooperation through High-level Dialogue (HLDE)
The HLED was co-chaired by Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness, with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yoshimasa Hayashi, and Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura.
Held on the 25 October, this second meeting of the HLED confirmed EU-Japanese strategic alignment on key economic and geopolitical challenges. On the agenda were current trade challenges, the follow-up to the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, and sustainable finance. On support for the rules-based order, the EU invited Japan to join the multi-party interim appeal arbitration arrangement (known as the ‘MPIA’), a stopgap arrangement open to all WTO Members until a lasting reform of WTO dispute settlement has been agreed multilaterally.
Another topic of discussion was the trade-related focus of Japan’s 2023 G7 Presidency, on which the two sides agreed to maintain close cooperation in the areas of securing a global level-playing field and economic security. The Ministers welcomed the launch of negotiations on including rules on data flows in the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. The first round of negotiations took place in Brussels on 24 October and the next round will take place in Tokyo in December.