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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 002398 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2026 
TAGS: PREL ETRD ECON MEPP EUN KNUC UNSC BO UP RS
CH, JA 
SUBJECT: 15TH JAPAN-EU SUMMIT: FOCUS ON POLITICAL AND 
SECURITY ISSUES 
 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor W. Michael Meserve.  Reason 
: 1.4 (b)(d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  The 15th Japan-EU Summit on April 24 in 
Tokyo highlighted the maturing Japan-EU partnership.  During 
the Summit: 
 
-- PM Koizumi stressed three points: his concern about low 
public awareness of the Japan-EU relationship, his desire to 
enhance the strategic dialogue on East Asia's security 
environment and his plans to enhance people-to-people 
exchanges; 
 
-- Over EU objections, Japan unilaterally reaffirmed Japan's 
strong opposition to the EU lifting its arms embargo on China 
in the joint statement; 
 
-- The Summit leaders jointly expressed their deep concern 
over Iran's uranium enrichment activities while reaffirming 
their support for a peaceful and diplomatic solution; 
 
-- The Summit leaders urged Russia to play a responsible role 
in global energy security, and that they hoped to strengthen 
their partnership with Russia based around the shared values; 
and 
 
-- The Summit leaders also addressed tax treaties, aviation 
agreements, UN reform and the Japan-EURATOM Agreement, which 
was signed this past February after ten years of 
negotiations.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, in his capacity 
as President of the European Council, High Representative 
Javier Solana and European Commission President Jose Manuel 
Barroso's visit to Japan on April 24 for the 15th Japan-EU 
Summit further developed the "maturing" Japan-EU relationship 
and highlighted the EU's growing trend of looking outward, 
MOFA European Policy Division Director Norio Maruyama told 
Embassy Tokyo Political Officers on April 26.  The planned 
one-hour discussion and one hour working lunch was extended 
to over five hours, addressing all the objectives within the 
Action Plan for EU-Japan Cooperation adopted in 2001.  A sign 
of the evolving relationship, Maruyama noted that the first 
summit held in 1991 was 90% focused on economic issues, in 
contrast to this year's summit, which was 70% political in 
nature. 
 
PM Koizumi's Three Key Points 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Going into the Summit, Prime Minister Koizumi had 
 
TOKYO 00002398  002 OF 005 
 
 
three specific points he wished to stress, Maruyama 
explained. 
 
-- Prime Minister Koizumi raised his concern that the many 
avenues of Japan-EU cooperation did not receive enough public 
visibility. 
 
-- Koizumi explored ways to enhance the strategic dialogue on 
East Asia's security environment with a view to establishing 
a Strategic Partnership.  Maruyama spoke positively about the 
strategic dialogue that was launched last year with Director 
General-level talks in September and expert-level discussions 
in early December that also included defense ministry 
representatives.  Both sides agreed to continue and further 
develop this dialogue and to add a similar dialogue focused 
on Central Asia. 
 
-- Koizumi focused on enhancing the people-to-people 
exchanges between Japan and EU member countries.  Maruyama 
proudly noted that exchanges under the Framework Initiative 
for Exchange Networks and Dialogues (FRIEND) numbered 1,900 
in 2005, and that Koizumi is now pushing for a target of 
bringing 4,000 Europeans to Japan each year.  This target 
number would incorporate all public and private sector 
exchanges.  The Japan Foundation has been asked to join the 
program with the aim of targeting businessmen, intellectuals, 
tourists, young people and experts.  The EU side welcomed all 
three of Koizumi's points, Maruyama stated. 
 
Joint Statements on the Middle East 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) PM Koizumi sought a strong on Iran in the joint 
statement, Maruyama emphasized.  Koizumi expressed his 
appreciation for European efforts to find a peaceful and 
diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue through 
negotiation, and the Summit leaders jointly expressed their 
concern over the recent uranium enrichment activities by the 
Iranian government, Maruyama said.  Additionally, since the 
news of the formation of the new Iraqi government broke on 
April 23, a day before the Summit, the Summit leaders took 
this opportunity to jointly welcome the election of the 
speaker of the National Assembly and the re-election of the 
President as well as the appointment of the new Prime 
Minister.  There was minimal discussion on Iraq, Maruyama 
noted, since it was "not an easy topic for the EU to agree 
on."  As for the Middle East Peace Process, Maruyama 
highlighted the leaders' focus on addressing the basic human 
needs of the Palestinian population.  They kept pressure on 
Hamas by reiterating support for settlement of the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict "based on existing agreements." 
 
TOKYO 00002398  003 OF 005 
 
 
 
East Asian Security 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Maruyama was emphatic that Japan remains strongly 
opposed to the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China, 
calling it "very worrisome" and a "serious concern."  He 
confided that the EU wanted to strike any reference to the 
issue from the joint statement since "it is not a primary 
issue for EU states."  However, Japan insisted on including 
language -- even though it was "unilateral" language so as to 
avoid any appearance that they were softening.  In the end, 
the EU agreed to include the same language from the previous 
year's statement (i.e., "Japan reiterated its opposition to 
the lifting of the EU's arms embargo on China.").  Maruyama 
believes the EU's hesitance to discuss this issue highlights 
Europe's lack of understanding of the security situation in 
Asia, which he feels stems in part from the geographic 
distance between the regions.  While the Summit leaders did 
not touch upon the actual arms embargo issue, he continued, 
they did discuss the security environment in East Asia. 
Maruyama reported that Koizumi hoped that underscoring the 
military environment in East Asia would foster a greater 
understanding by the EU of Japan's position.  PM Koizumi also 
requested the EU's support on the DPRK abduction issue.  The 
EU responded with a strong statement of continued support for 
all efforts intended to lead to a settlement. 
 
Praise for Ukraine, Concerns on Russia and Belarus 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7. (C) PM Koizumi raised his concerns about recent troubling 
Russian actions, such as cutting off gas to the Ukraine, 
adding the Prime Minister felt this was particularly 
problematic as Russia will host the G-8 Summit this year, 
Maruyama confided.  The EU leaders and Japan were reportedly 
in agreement that Russia needs to play a responsible role in 
global energy security, and that they hoped to strengthen 
their partnership with Russia by stressing shared values. 
The Summit leaders also agreed on to continue to encourage 
democracy in Ukraine as well as to state their opposition to 
the forceful detention of peaceful demonstrators by the 
Belarusian authorities, Maruyama said.  The Western Balkans 
demonstrates successful cooperation between Japan and the EU, 
Maruyama observed.  Koizumi underscored Japan's commitment to 
peacebuilding through technical assistance and ODA in the 
region, and its intention to continue working with the EU to 
further enhance stability, democracy and sustainable 
development there. 
 
Renegotiating Outdated Bilateral Tax Treaties 
 
TOKYO 00002398  004 OF 005 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Japan is concerned about the inability to establish a 
comprehensive bilateral tax treaty with the EU due to the 
EU's lack of legal authority to negotiate such matters on 
behalf of member states, Maruyama explained.  Consequently, 
Japan must negotiate separate bilateral tax treaties with 
each member state in order to modernize outdated bilateral 
tax treaties provisions.  Maruyama cited tax withholdings on 
royalty payments as one problem area.  Japan currently has 17 
bilateral tax treaties with various EU member states inked in 
the 1960s and 1970s, Maruyama explained, and hoped to 
accelerate the process of updating them based on the 
U.S.-Japan Tax treaty model. 
 
UN Reform Language Debated 
-------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Because of differences within the EU on UN reform, an 
particularly on UNSC reform, both sides had to make 
concessions in formulating joint statement language on the 
issue, Maruyama said.  The final text stated that the "Summit 
leaders underlined the importance of implementing the 
on-going reform process adopted at the UN Summit, notably the 
reform of main UN bodies."  Japan succeeded on inserting 
"notably" instead of the EU's preferred formulation of 
"including," Maruyama explained.  Japan allowed the reference 
of "all UN bodies" to remain vague. 
 
Japan-EURATOM Agreement 
----------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Maruyama pointed to signing of the Japan-EURATOM 
Agreement in February 2006 as a major achievement following 
ten years of negotiation.  The agreement has made it easier 
for Japan to export nuclear materials to EU member states, 
Maruyama explained.  The Summit leaders welcomed this major 
step forward in EU-Japan cooperation.  Prior to this 
agreement, Japan only had bilateral treaties with France and 
the United Kingdom, and an agreement with Belgium, Maruyama 
noted.  The new comprehensive agreement covers exports to all 
25-member states, as well as any components exported out of 
the EU to a third party. 
 
Aviation Issues, Bilateral is Bilateral 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) In response to the Political Officers' inquiry if 
there had been any contentious Summit-related "issues," 
Maruyama remarked that division of competence between the EU 
and its member countries on aviation matters was affecting 
 
TOKYO 00002398  005 OF 005 
 
 
Japan.  Japan currently has bilateral aviation treaties with 
individual member states; however, the EU has expressed its 
desire to allow bilaterally agreed upon aviation routes to be 
utilized by other member states, explained Maruyama.  (He 
used the hypothetical example of a Luxembourg carrier with a 
route between Luxembourg and Frankfurt then using the route 
between Frankfurt and Tokyo, despite the fact that Japan and 
Luxembourg do not have a bilateral aviation agreement). 
Japan's position is that these treaties are to remain solely 
between Japan and the individual member states; any change in 
allowed routes must be a result of negotiations between Japan 
and the individual member state, Maruyama stressed. 
DONOVAN