Japan·EU Launch Economic 2+2... Cooperation to Break Away from Dependence on Chinese Rare Earths

【Tokyo=Kim Kyung-min Correspondent】 Japan and the European Union (EU) have decided to newly launch an 'Economic 2+2' consultative body involving foreign and economic ministers. This is a measure to further strengthen strategic partnerships by reviewing the promotion of joint public-private projects to reduce dependence on China for securing key minerals such as rare earths.
According to local media on the 18th, the two sides recently agreed on this plan at the working level and plan to announce a performance document including this at the summit meeting on the 23rd. The document will include content on forming a 'competitiveness alliance' relationship and jointly building a supply chain for important minerals.
Until now, there has been a high-level consultation framework between Japan and the EU involving Japan's foreign and economic ministers and the EU's trade officials. Thierry Breton, the EU's Executive Vice-President in charge of industrial strategy, will newly join, elevating this 2+2 to an 'expanded high-level economic dialogue' format.
Vice-President Breton is overseeing the EU's core mineral stable procurement plan and is seeking development opportunities in Greenland and Africa. Within the 2+2 framework, the two sides will discuss ways for Japanese companies to participate in EU projects and plan to organize specific cooperation projects as early as after this summer.
As part of the competitiveness alliance cooperation, the two sides also decided to establish a separate consultative body where Japan can convey its opinions on EU regulatory simplification. This aligns with the EU's trend of easing corporate regulatory burdens based on a report by Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank (ECB). In particular, as there are many environmental and financial regulations affecting Japanese companies, the plan is to increase opportunities to formalize improvement requests.

km@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-min Reporter