The EU and Japan: Towards a Truly “Strategic” Partnership

By Eva Pejsova

23.11.2023

Korea on Point

The EU and Japan have never been closer. Despite referring to each other as ‘strategic partners’ since the early 2000s, the relationship between the EU and Japan has been broadly defined in terms of shared values, such as human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, with cooperation focusing almost exclusively on trade and economic affairs. Developments of the past decade, driven chiefly by China’s expanding strategic clout, the in-ward shift in the US foreign policy, the Russia-China rapprochement, as well as the all-encompassing Sino-American strategic competition, have led to an unprecedented level of strategic convergence between Brussels and Tokyo. The EU- Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), in force since 2019, provides an overarching political framework and a comprehensive roadmap for enhancing cooperation across a broad range of areas, ranging from trade, technology, environment, connectivity, energy, or security and defense matters. While some areas have already recorded concrete progress, much still needs to be accomplished to fulfil the terms of a truly ‘strategic’ partnership.

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