EU-Japan cooperation

During the Japan-Romania Summit Meeting held on 7 March 2023, a Strategic Partnership between Japan and Romania was signed by Mr. Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, and H.E. Mr. Klaus-Werner Iohannis, President of Romania.

Officials and experts from the EU and Japan met online from 6 to 8 June 2023 to discuss and exchange good practices in competition policy and enforcement.

On 28 March, the European Union and Japan reviewed recent progress under their Strategic Partnership Agreement in Tokyo, during their first in-person Joint Committee since 2020.

With a view to enhancing air services with Japan, on 20 February 2023, the Swedish presidency of the Council signed on behalf of the EU an aviation agreement with one of the Union’s most important partners in Asia. The agreement will give all EU air carriers non-discriminatory access to routes between the EU and Japan, thereby promoting open and fair competition.

Held on the 25 October, this second meeting of the HLED confirmed EU-Japanese strategic alignment on key economic and geopolitical challenges.

Leaders at the EU-Japan Summit taking place in Tokyo agreed to start exploratory talks on Japan’s possible association to the EU's key research & innovation funding programme Horizon Europe. Association is the closest form of international cooperation on research and innovation with third countries, and it could pave the way for an intensified cooperation in research and innovation between the EU and Japan.