Brussels, 17 March 2014 – The Japan Business Council in Europe (JBCE) welcomes the inclusion of Regulatory Cooperation in the latest EU-Japan Industrial Policy Dialogue held today in Brussels between the European Commission’s Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
“Effective cooperation on regulations and standards will increase the competitiveness of European and Japanese industry alike and help both regions to tackle common societal challenges,” says JBCE Vice Chairman Lars Brückner. “We anticipate that regulatory cooperation will be instrumental in successfully introducing new technologies in both regions, as well as globally. JBCE expects that international cooperation, for example on standardization, will also benefit from effective EU-Japan regulatory cooperation. Additionally, alignment on standards in the EU and in Japan will significantly reduce regulatory compliance costs”.
JBCE encourages the European and Japanese authorities to account for two fundamental points for effective regulatory cooperation. First, both sides should periodically review the progress of their cooperation and take appropriate action to ensure the longevity of the common regulatory framework. Second, the structure of regulatory cooperation should enable the EU and Japan not only to deal with existing obstacles, but also prevent these from recurring in the future.
JBCE is confident that effective regulatory cooperation between the EU and Japan could serve as a model for cooperation among other countries and regions to face together economic and societal challenges.
Finally, JBCE remains highly committed to supporting the European Commission and the Japanese Government in their efforts to further deepen and broaden EU-Japan regulatory cooperation and looks forward to contributing to this endeavor.
Contact: Yukihiro Kawaguchi, JBCE Secretary General: +32 2 286 53 30 – info@jbce.org