The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement

The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement signed in 2018 creates an open trade zone covering over 600 million people and a third of the global value of goods and services. This agreement reaffirms the shared commitment of the EU and Japan to sustainable development. As such, it can contribute to promoting trade and investment between Europe and Japan, in industrial solutions for a decarbonized society.

Businesses from both sides already work together in a number of sectors contributing to decarbonization, such as renewable energy, hydrogen or clean mobility. This cooperation can be expanded, to the benefit of an accelerated, cost-effective, large scale deployment of low-carbon industrial solutions in the EU, Japan and other regions.

Building on the strength of bilateral trade, and leveraging the effect of EU-Japan cooperation on regulations and standards, the event will focus on technologies and sectors that are key to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in the EU and Japan: renewable energy, hydrogen, clean mobility, and the raw materials required by these industries.

It will aim at facilitating the exchanges of experiences between business representatives from the EU and Japan about the potential opportunities associated with green growth, on both markets and on the global scene.

Agenda
Moderator: Ms. Teri Schultz, international TV and radio reporter, podcast host.

Opening
Ms. Ewa Synowiec, Director for Trade, Sustainable Development and Green Deal, DG TRADE | European Commission Mr. Jacob Werksman, Principal Advisor, DG CLIMA | European Commission Mr. Takashi Omote, Deputy Director-General for Trade Policy and Industrial Science and Technology Policy | Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry of Japan Session 1: “Renewable energy: decarbonizing the economy at the source”

Mr. David Kang, Head of Japan and Korea Research | BloombergNEF Mr. Gu Yoon Chung, Head of Business Development Asia Pacific | Enel Green Power Mr. Satoshi Kuwano, Executive Officer, New business Promotion & Decarbonization Community Energy Division | Kansai Electric Power Company Renewable energy is one of the main solutions to decarbonize the economy. Its development requires that both demand and offer grow, in a virtuous circle. Initiatives such as RE100, joined by large businesses from Japan and Europe, are contributing to enhance and consolidate corporate demand. In addition, non-discriminatory trade and investment are powerful drivers for lowering costs and for disseminating technologies.

Taking stock of the current trends related to renewable energy, our speakers will reflect on the key factors to the development of economically viable international supply chains, and the role that trade between Europe and Japan can have in accelerating the deployment of renewable energy. They will also illustrate how the renewable energy industry can help decarbonize all other industries.

Session 2: “Hydrogen: a new vector to store and distribute low-carbon energy”
Mr. Tim Karlsson, Executive Director | IPHE Mr. Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Secretary General | Hydrogen Europe Mr. Hiroshi Fukushima, Senior Managing Executive Officer | Japan Hydrogen Association To be used in vehicles, buildings and factories, renewable energy needs to be transported and stored. Hydrogen, when produced from renewable sources, is increasingly seen as a solution to transport clean energy across countries, and to store it near consumption sites. In this session, experts will highlight the latest trends: how hydrogen can contribute to a low-carbon industry in the world, in Japan and in Europe. And how can international trade of hydrogen be organized to facilitate the adoption of this energy vector as a tool for truly decarbonized economies?

Q&A: “Clean energy for clean industries, transports and buildings”
Interactive session with the 6 speakers from Sessions 1 & 2.

How can the EU and Japan work together for an accelerated contribution of renewable energy and hydrogen to decarbonized industries, transports and buildings in Europe, Japan and other regions? How do the efforts of Europe and Japan in this regard fit in the global landscape?

Session 3: “Transport: towards zero-emission mobility”
Dr. Ruth Heuss, Senior Partner | McKinsey & Company Mr. Lutz Rothhardt, Director of Development Japan | BMW Group Mr. Ferry Franz, Head of Hydrogen Affairs | Toyota Motor Europe Decarbonization of the transport sector will be key in the shift to a low-carbon society. Key technologies range from battery-powered electric vehicles, to new approaches to public transport such as mobility-as-a-service, and to the new materials required for the manufacturing of vehicles. Renewable hydrogen can also play a role in the decarbonization of certain modes of transport.

This session will focus on the example of the automobile industry: how do car manufacturers worldwide, in Europe and in Japan transform their long-established fossil-based models and introduce new technologies to produce low-carbon vehicles? What is the role for international standards to ensure interoperability between systems, thus creating economies of scale and efficiencies through international trade? In particular, what contribution can we expect from the bilateral trade between Europe and Japan in the automotive sector? How can the EU-Japan trade agreement contribute to accelerating the reductions of greenhouse gases emissions of cars?

Session 4: “Raw materials for decarbonized economies”
Mr. Rodolfo Lacy, Environment Director | OECD Mr. Atsuya Hanazawa, President Japan | Umicore Mr. Minoru Hasegawa, Assistant General Manager, Inorganic Chemicals Department, Chemicals Division | Sojitz Corporation Solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, smarter grids, smarter vehicles… Many technologies required for the transition to decarbonized economies need non-renewable raw materials, such as rare-earth metals. By definition, these materials are available in limited quantities, and extraction is problematic due to the high environmental impact.
Furthermore, the scarcity of critical raw materials is exacerbated by restrictions to exports and other measures distorting international trade.

In this session, experts will discuss which strategies guarantee sufficient availability of the required raw materials, and how their extraction and recycling can be managed to ensure the lowest environmental impact on the full lifecycle of products.

Q&A: “Zero carbon over the full lifecycle of goods and services”
Interactive session with the 6 speakers from Sessions 3 & 4.

 From raw materials extraction to the end-use of technologies such as zero-emission vehicles, how do the European and Japanese industries position themselves on the global scene, towards a truly decarbonized lifecycle of goods and services?  How does a circular approach contribute to a more virtuous model? How can multilateral or bilateral trade rules facilitate the establishment of low-carbon supply chains?
What possibilities for joint action by the EU and Japan to promote fair access sources of raw materials?

The moderator will ask questions received from the audience and her own questions, with the objective of highlighting the connections between the topics covered by the two previous thematic sessions. She will also guide the discussion towards highlighting the potential development of trade and industry exchanges between the EU and Japan in these sectors.

Closing
Mr. Takashi Omote, Deputy Director General | Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry of Japan Mr. Joaquim Nunes de Almeida, Director for Mobility & Energy Intensive Industries, DG GROW | European Commission

30 June2021