Joint Press Release for “Japan-EU officials’ meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation”

EU News 182/2014

22 April 2014

On 15 April 2014, H.E. Mr. Makoto Katsura, Ambassador for Science and Technology Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Ms. Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, co-chaired an officials’ meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation between Japan and the EU, with the participation of several Japanese ministries.

This meeting took place in response to the mandate by Japanese and EU Leaders at the EU-Japan Summit of 19 November 2013 ‘to explore a way forward by the next Summit’. On the occasion of this meeting, participants of Japan and the EU reaffirmed the successful outcomes of the collaborative activities undertaken under the FP7 programme of the EU. They exchanged views for exploring more effective and efficient mechanisms to enhance future research cooperation in the context of the new EU programme Horizon 2020 and the new Japanese ‘Comprehensive STI Strategy’, from the perspectives of EU and Japanese frontlines of research and development. Through this meeting, both sides reconfirmed the strategic importance of EU-Japan cooperation in science, technology and innovation. They agreed that Japan-EU partnership is improving steadily and moving forward to unlock the full potential of Japan-EU science and technology cooperation and to promote greater collaboration as partners in the field of research and innovation.

Building on these fruitful discussions, they agreed to report, as requested, to the forthcoming EU-Japan Summit in Brussels, and to pursue this dialogue in order to identify a concrete way forward.

• Tweet