The EU-Japan Business Round Table (BRT) was established in its current form in 1999 to foster communication between Japanese and European industries. It meets annually, alternately in Japan and in Europe, the BRT's most recent meeting was a hybrid one, taking place in Brussels and online on 7 November 2023. The next one is likely to take place in autumn 2024. The BRT was formed from the merger of the "EU-Japan Industrialists' Round Table" and the "EU-Japan Business Forum".
For a 2-minute overview of who the BRT members are, the BRT's goals, working methods, links with the EU and Japanese Authorities and for archive footage, see this introductory video.
Who are the BRT's Members?
 As of 19/04/2024, the BRT has |
 c. 22% of members represent SMEs, 14% represent federations |
Over the past 6 years, the make-up of the BRT has been transformed, with the proportion of:
What does the BRT do?
The BRT's main objectives are to:
The BRT's recommendations to the Authorities take two forms - its annual 'Joint Recommendations' summarise the collective view of the BRT Members on a range of topics and the annual sets of recommendations prepared by its 4 Working Parties:
The EU and Japanese Authorities' responses to the recommendations take the form of oral statements during the annual meeting. The Government of Japan issues formal progress reports to respond to recommendations submitted by the BRT in the previous year. (The European Commission issued similar progress reports up to 2017.)
The BRT currently publicises its work through its annual and ad hoc Joint Recommendations documents. Previously it also published occasional press releases.
How often does the BRT meet?
The BRT holds annual meetings. It also organises occasional web meetings to exchange ideas and information on relevant topics. The next annual meeting is scheduled to take place in Tokyo in early 2025.
A key part of the BRT's work is its exchanges with the EU Authorities and Japanese Government (or"GOJ").
These exchanges take place:
The BRT is also occasionally referenced in official agreements (e.g. the EU-Japan Green Alliance or Japan-EU Digital Partnership), statements (including press statements from EU-Japan Summits) and other documents published by the EU and Japanese Authorities.
The 3 key Japanese Ministries with which the BRT has contact are:
The 3 key Commission departments with which the BRT has contact are:
What was the BRT's position on the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)?
Since 2007 - a long time before the formal negotiations actually began - the BRT was in favour of the EU and Japan agreeing a high-level, comprehensive, equitable partnership agreement. In 2007 it convened separate EU and Japan-side taskforces to evaluate the "feasibility" of an "Economic Integration Agreement". Subsequently it followed closely, and gave input to, the negotiations that led to the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, and issued a statement heralding its entry into force as a "new era for the EU and Japan".
To consult documents adopted and published by the BRT, please either click the above links to see all the documents of a given type (e.g., all Working Party 2 reports, or all Press Releases) or view all the documents relating to a particular meeting in the archive of the "Annual Meetings".
The work of the BRT is supported by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation which acts as the BRT Secretariat. For more details about the BRT please contact the EU-Japan Centre either via this web-form or by phone:
The EU-Japan Centre currently produces 5 newsletters :
Joint venture established in 1987 by the European Commission (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government (METI) for promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.
