Regarding the Japan-EU Energy Ministerial Meeting and Hydrogen High-Level Business Forum in Tokyo, Reinhard Bütikofer, the European Parliament’s Rapporteur on EU-Japan relations, states:
“The announcement of closer cooperation in the field of renewable energies and clean tech supply chains is very welcome and dearly needed good news. So far EU-Japan partnership had been somewhat underdeveloped in the green sector. EU energy Commissioner Simson and Prime Minister Kishida have now agreed to put into practice what is obviously imperative: pragmatic, focussed and mutually beneficial cooperation in future technologies among trusted partners.
This cooperation in the framework of the EU Japan Green Alliance is a prime example of the EU partnering with a likeminded country to achieve energy resilience and together advance the Green transition. This is not only helpful in combatting the climate crisis, it is also useful in order to jointly avoid a green tech dependency on players that might exploit a dominance in that sector for ulterior purposes.
In the same vein, last week’s signing by the EU and Australia of a Memorandum of Understanding for a bilateral partnership to cooperate on sustainable critical and strategic minerals is also an important step in the right direction.
The EU Commission’s economic security strategy had already pointed out that playing defense against dumping and unfair subsidisation coming from China cannot be enough. We need to partner with others that are willing to adhere to the rules of the market. It is only positive that the EU is now walking the talk and also develops the external dimension of its industrial and economic policy. Supply chain resilience agreements are a crucial policy tool of the future. The Global Gateway Initiative could and should play an important role in this regard, too.”
