Japan, EU to launch 'high-level group' to boost economic, political ties+

TOKYO, April 28 Kyodo - Japan and the European Union agreed Wednesday to establish a high-level working group to discuss ways to strengthen their political and economic relations, with the former hoping that the new framework would lead to the start of talks
on a bilateral free trade agreement.

The two sides also discussed Greece's debt problems, and the Japanese side is
believed to have expressed its understanding of the aid package put together by
the European Union earlier for the country.
Japan and the EU also agreed to promote cooperation in areas such as
peace-building efforts in Afghanistan and combating piracy in waters off
Somalia, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said at a joint news conference
after meeting with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso in Tokyo.
While Japan pushed for launching a joint study group with the European Union,
possibly with a view to starting talks on a free trade agreement, the European
Union remained cautious, apparently resulting in the compromise of launching a
''joint high-level group.''
It was the first Japan-EU summit since the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union's
new basic treaty, went into force last December and since Japan saw a new
government take power last September.
During the 75-minute meeting held at the prime minister's office, the Japanese
and EU leaders agreed that the high-level working group, once set up, will
conduct a joint review for the comprehensive strengthening of Japan-EU economic
relations.
The group will present options to the leaders at the Japan-EU summit in
Brussels next year, at which they will decide on what further steps to take,
Hatoyama said, adding, ''As one such option, Japan hopes to start work toward
an economic partnership agreement.''
''To that end, we will work on (the matter) steadily,'' he said, noting that
Japan understands the European Union's frustration with nontariff barriers in
Japan, such as tough rules over government procurement, construction, medicines
and automobiles, which Brussels blames for distorting fair trade.
Standing next to Hatoyama at the news conference, Van Rompuy, elected in
November as the first permanent president of the European Council, called for a
''strong political will'' to resolve difficulties between the two sides, saying
that the high-level group should not work ''in a bureaucratic way.''
''We leave our options open,'' the EU president said, indicating that if
sufficient progress is made on the nontariff barriers in Japan, the two sides
could move toward initiating free trade agreement talks.
On Afghanistan, the two sides agreed to consider cooperating in strengthening
the capacity of the Afghan police, including renovating police training
facilities in the country. They will also work together in antipiracy efforts
in waters off Somalia by assisting the activities of information-sharing
centers in the surrounding countries.
On the Iranian nuclear standoff, the two sides shared a ''serious concern''
over its nuclear program and failure to meet U.N. obligations, and that they
will cooperate at the U.N. Security Council, where the United States and some
European countries are seeking a new sanctions resolution against Iran, Van
Rompuy said.
The leaders also agreed to work together for the success of a key U.N. climate
conference to be held in Mexico later this year, Hatoyama said.
The summit was also attended by Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, trade minister
Masayuki Naoshima and their EU counterparts Catherine Ashton and Karel De
Gucht.
Prior to the meeting, Okada met with Ashton over lunch and proposed the start
of work toward studying an FTA, while Naoshima and De Gucht exchanged views on
the possibility of launching an FTA study, according to the foreign and trade
ministries.
Despite Japan's willingness to forge an economic partnership agreement, the EU
president has expressed caution about the idea, noting that Japan's efforts to
ease nontariff barriers are not yet sufficient.
''Many so-called nontariff barriers to trade remain in place, which hamper
access to the Japanese market and cause hesitance from the European Union side
to go ahead,'' Van Rompuy told a press conference in Tokyo earlier Wednesday.
An EPA goes beyond a free trade agreement, which aims mainly to remove tariffs
on goods and trade barriers for services, by covering areas, such as
intellectual property rights and investment protection rules.
The European Union has been calling on Japan to ease safety standards for
products like automobiles and to speed up the screening process of medical
devices, while Japan wants the European Union to abolish tariffs on cars and
flat-panel televisions.
The European Business Council in Japan said Wednesday that there is ''huge
untapped potential in the EU-Japan trade relationship,'' citing a recent study,
which suggested that removing current tariffs and nontariff measures could
increase EU exports to Japan by 70 percent and Japanese exports to the bloc by
60 percent.
==Kyodo