Japan

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  • The EU and the Japan Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), established under the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), attended the 3rd EU-Japan Joint Dialogue with Civil Society, which took place in virtual format on 27 January 2022.

  • The 6th meeting of the EU DAG under the EU-Japan EPA took place on 14 December 2021. It was a working meeting, to follow up on the discussions of the previous meeting (19 October) and to prepare the upcoming joint meetings with the Japanese counterparts. In addition to updates and exchanges with the European Commission and the EU Delegation in Tokyo, the EU DAG members also had the opportunity to listen to a presentation on "Civil Society in Japan" by Professor Akihiro Ogawa at this meeting.

  • The EESC EU-Japan Follow-up Committee met on 25 November 2021 to discuss various aspects of EU-Japan relations.

    Main topics from the programme:

    • Update on the situation in Japan
    • EU and Japan in the global context: The EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
    • Climate change and environment
  • The members of the Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) of the EU - composed of representatives of employers' organisations, trade unions and various interest groups - exchanged views on matters related to trade and sustainable development, following up on the joint meetings that took place last January with their counterparts under the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). A discussion on these matters took place with the Commission's DG Trade. With the ILO (International Labour Organization) Japan office, they discussed the implementation of commitments to the ILO core conventions, and they received information from DG ENV (European Commission – Directorate-General Environment) on a project on Rethinking Plastics.

  • Virtual meeting via WEBEX

    The EESC EU-Japan Follow-up Committee will meet in the morning of 7 January 2021. It will discuss various aspects of EU-Japan relations and set its work programme for the first half of the new mandate.

  • The EESC EU-Japan Follow-up Committee met the morning of 17 July. Items for discussion on the agenda were: the EU-Japan Relations in the post COVID-19 era and  Research and innovation. In addition to this, the Follow-up Committee assessed the current mandate period and reflected on future perspectives.

  • (Hybrid WEBEX)

    During the meeting, the members of the Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) of the EU - composed of representatives of employers' organisations, trade unions and various interest groups -  followed up on the joint meetings with the Japanese counterparts that took place in Tokyo in January this year. They also discussed the work programme of the EU DAG and topics for future cooperation and dialogue.  Additionally, the members of the EU DAG exchanged views with representatives of the European Commission on matters related to the implementation of the trade and sustainable development chapter of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

     

  • Examples of involvement of economic and social stakeholders and other actors to contribute to sustainable trade

    The symposium was introduced by a presentation of an external speaker and followed by a Q&A-session. In the first session, focus was on the consultation of civil society in the context of policy and legislation development and implementation, including in the context of trade policy, trade agreements and Trade and Sustainable Development chapters. The participants had the possibility to share information on how civil society functions and is consulted in the respective countries. The second session was a networking coffee, and the participants were given the possibility to discuss the involvement of economic and social stakeholders and other actors to contribute to sustainable trade. The aim of the discussions was to share experience and build the ground for future cooperation.

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    During its mission to Japan, the EU-Japan Follow-up Committee relied on its former work in order to further strengthen its cooperation with its well-established network of organisations.

  • During the meeting, the members of the EU Domestic Advisory Group (EU DAG), composed of representatives of employers' organisations, trade unions and various interest groups, will adopt its rules of procedure and confirm the composition of the EU DAG. Discussions will also take place on the preparation of the participation of the EU DAG in the Joint Dialogue with Civil Society, which will be organised in Tokyo on 31 January in the framework of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).