Broadening the partnership

As advanced, industrialised democracies, the EU and Japan have many common interests and cooperate closely with one another in international and multilateral fora such as the UN, WTO, and the G7 and G20. The scope of the overall relationship has broadened in recent years and now goes far beyond the earlier trade-related focus of the 1970s and 1980s. Building on shared fundamental values, the EU established a Strategic Partnership with Japan in 2001, and top leaders meet at the annual EU-Japan Summit since 1991.

The EU and Japan have successfully concluded two major agreements which together promise to mark an important step forward in the bilateral relationship:

• A Strategic Partnership Agreement, a legally binding pact covering not only political dialogue and policy cooperation, but also cooperation on regional and global challenges, including environment and climate change, development policy and disaster relief, and security policy.
• An Economic Partnership Agreement  (EPA), an ambitious, comprehensive pact to stimulate growth on both sides.

Alongside these two agreements, the EU and Japan continue to hold regular dialogue meetings on a variety of policy areas such as the environment, information society, cyber-space, science & technology, trade, financial services, and industrial policy. Additionally, the EU and Japan have a regular dialogue on human rights and cooperate in various forums, such as the UN Human Rights Council and in the UN 3rd Committee.

This very practical cooperation across a variety of policy fields helps iron out potential problems and contributes to establishing international norms.

Looking back

The European Union has had a diplomatic office in Japan for 40 years now. In 1974, what was then the European Communities opened the first Delegation in Tokyo, and this has since evolved to become the Delegation of the European Union with the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force in December 2009.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the focus of our bilateral efforts was not only to correct the trade imbalance but also to broaden industrial cooperation and investment. 1987 saw the creation of what is now known as the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation. More exchanges among academics, journalists and researchers were encouraged.

Bilateral ties strengthened in the 1990s after a series of European Treaties made it clear that Europe was heading toward deeper economic and political integration, and policymakers in both Europe and Japan were increasingly aware that a closer partnership between these large economies and like-minded, mature democracies would benefit not only each other but the world as a whole.

The 2009 Lisbon Treaty saw the establishment of the EU’s own diplomatic service, and this has led to an intensification of political dialogue and the first regular consultations on security policy issues.

The EU’s solidarity with Ukraine is unwavering, even as European citizens shoulder a substantial share of the economic and humanitarian costs in this war. We are grateful to Japan for its unwavering and significant support to Ukraine, and for standing with the EU as we jointly work to ensure Ukraine’s victory in its fight for survival as an intendent country and a sovereign nation.

Supporting Ukraine is first and foremost about helping Ukraine to defeat the invasion, but also about how to reach peace and how we support Ukraine’s reconstruction process. Standing together against Putin’s brutality and illegal war of aggression will be even more crucial in the months to come as we continue to address Ukraine’s needs and hold Russia accountable.

• By launching its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, Putin plans not only to destroy Ukraine and destabilise Europe, but also directly violates international law and notably the UN Charter. This undermines peace and security in the entire world, with dire consequences for vital Japanese and European global security interests.
• Since the start of Russia’s illegal war, we have worked in lockstep with Japan and other partners to impose massive sanctions on Russia, its military, and its economy, as well as to isolate Russia internationally.
• The EU also moved at lightning speed on energy security to diversify our energy supplies and phase out dependency from Russian fossil fuels. We banned coal and seaborne oil imports from Russia and EU gas purchases from Russia have significantly decreased. In parallel, the EU has increased its resilience by accelerating the energy transition, investing into renewable energy and energy efficiency. The EU is also working closely together with Japan and other G7+ partners in supporting Ukraine’s energy sector in light of Russia’s war of aggression.
• To support Ukraine itself, since the start of the war, the EU and our Member States have made available over ¥13.2 trillion[1] in financial, military, humanitarian, and refugee assistance, with this increasing regularly. This figure includes an unprecedented commitment of ¥2.9 trillion in financial assistance for 2023 disbursed in regular monthly increments to ensure stable financing for the running of the Ukrainian state.

Collective EU and EU Member State support to Ukraine includes:

• Over ¥6.9 trillion in financial and budgetary support and in humanitarian and emergency assistance. This support is as essential as military assistance to ensure Ukraine’s success on the battlefield. It allows Ukraine to keep paying wages and pensions and maintain essential public services, such as hospitals, schools, and housing for relocated people. It also ensures macroeconomic stability, and helps restore critical infrastructure destroyed. It includes:

- ¥1.3 trillion of financial assistance to Ukraine in 2023, which have been disbursed

- ¥4 trillion in emergency EU macro-financial assistance and ¥2.9 trillion in budget support in 2023

- ¥1.9 trillion of financial assistance directly from EU Member States in grants, loans, and guarantees

- ¥414.6 billion in loans from the EIB and EBRD guaranteed by the EU budget

- ¥125.6 billion in humanitarian aid, emergency assistance, and crisis response including over 5,500 power generators, and ¥15.9 billion to rebuild Ukrainian schools

- ¥191.4 billion in bilateral cooperation to increase Ukraine’s resilience and support reforms

- Over 98,000 tonnes of in-kind assistance, valued at ¥126.9 billion have been provided via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism by 35 participating countries, coordinated by the EU

- The EU has coordinated over 3,000 medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients to provide them with specialised healthcare in hospitals across Europe

- ¥159.5 billion of additional EU support is being mobilised for Ukraine’s fast recovery, as part of the commitment made during the EU-Ukraine Summit in February 2023

- ¥64.6 billion have been made available by the EU, its Member States and other partners to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund set up by the Energy Community providing financial assistance to repair Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks and ensuring the continued functionality of the energy sector.

• Over ¥4.5 trillion in military assistance, and constantly growing – ranging from ammunition to air-defence systems, Leopard tanks, and fighter jets. This includes an unprecedented ¥972.7 billion from the European Peace Facility, in addition to supplies provided directly on a bilateral basis by our Member States.

- On ammunition for Ukraine, EU support includes ¥312.3 billion for the joint procurement and delivery of up to an additional one million rounds of artillery ammunition by early 2024, and an additional ¥79.6 billion to urgently boost EU defence industry capacities in ammunition production.

- The EU is today the largest military training provider to the Ukrainian armed forces so for more than 39,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been trained under the EU’s Military Assistance Mission. An additional ¥17.5 billion has been provided to support Ukraine’s de-mining of liberated territories temporarily occupied by Russian armed forces.

• Up to ¥2.7 trillion from the EU budget to support Ukrainian refugees who have fled to EU Member States since February 2022.

- Close to four million refugees have been registered for temporary protection in the EU, mainly women, children, and older persons. This means they are entitled to work, accommodation, healthcare, as well as schooling for their children in the same way as EU citizens. Today, close to 20 percent of Ukraine’s children are taking refuge in the EU.

• Over ¥159.5 billion to boost EU Solidarity Lanes to transport Ukrainian food to the world and address the food security crisis caused by Russia’s war. These lanes have already helped Ukraine export over 67 million tonnes of agricultural products, and generated more than ¥6.7 trillion of much-needed revenue for Ukraine’s economy. They have also allowed the import into Ukraine of more than 40 million tonnes of goods.

• We have temporarily suspended EU import duties for exports from Ukraine. The latest figures show Ukraine’s exports are exceeding pre-war levels, again with massive beneficial consequences for Ukraine’s wartime economy.

[1] EUR values converted into JPY at the 2024 January average ECB reference exchange rate.

The EU-Japan Partnership on Sustainable Connectivity and Quality Infrastructure represented the EU's first-ever connectivity partnership with a third country and followed the presentation in September 2018 of a Joint Communication of the European Commission and the High Representative on ‘Connecting Europe and Asia – Building Blocks for an EU Strategy', and Council Conclusions of October 2018. The EU’s approach to connectivity and sustainable infrastructure has been at the very heart of successful European integration and is based on clear values and interests, namely that connectivity must be sustainable, comprehensive, and rules-based. This European approach is based on high standards of social and environmental protection and inspired by the EU's internal market, enabling countries to achieve higher levels of quality of life while guaranteeing respect for individual rights. The Connectivity Partnership with Japan confirms our joint ambition to promote connectivity in line with this approach.

Global Gateway is a European Union (EU) initiative aimed at contributing to narrowing the global investment gap accompanying the social and just green and digital transitions beyond Europe's borders while also boosting competitiveness and the security of global supply chains.

Global Gateway is a strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world on the basis of trust , sustainability and mutual interest. It provides investments for transformative, large-scale projects, while offering a respectful and qualitative and horizontal/equal partnership to the EU's partner countries in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

It promotes investments in hard infrastructure by improving the enabling environment, regulatory frameworks, norms and standards, technology transfer and know- how. Crucially, it does this in full respect for international labour standards and human rights, as well as good governance and transparency, which makes the overall approach unique and provides for a distinctive engagement with partner countries.

This distinguishes the EU from other actors, who follow unsustainable investment practices that often leave recipient countries caught in a debt-trap. Global Gateway projects are designed explicitly to be sustainable and of high quality and to bring clear added value to our partner countries and their citizens.

Global Gateway aims to mobilise up to €300 billion in investments worldwide between 2021 and 2027 with a mix of grants, concessional loans and guarantees to de- risk private sector investments. It is implemented through a 'Team Europe' approach mobilising all EU institutions, EU Member States, their Development Finance Institutions and Export Credit Agencies, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European private sector. 

More information on Global Gateway can be found here.