At the first Japan-EU Digital Partnership Council meeting on 3 July, the two partners signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to support secure, resilient and sustainable submarine connectivity. In particular, they will jointly promote actions to develop submarine cable connectivity via the Arctic, providing secure and high-quality connectivity between the EU and Japan, with the potential to extend it to Southeast Asia and the wider Pacific region.
The EU and Japan also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on semiconductors, paving the way for in-depth cooperation in research and development; an early warning mechanism of critical disruptions in the semiconductors supply chain; and cooperating on advanced skills for the semiconductor industry.
Beyond these two Memoranda of Cooperation, the EU and Japan agreed on enhancing cooperation in a wide range of topics of common interest such as artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI; cooperation on quantum and high-performance computing, including reciprocal access for researchers to their supercomputers – Fugaku on the Japanese side, and LUMI, Leonardo and Mare Nostrum 5 on the EU side; research and standardisation in 5G and beyond; data governance and promoting best practices to enable free flow of data with trust; and cybersecurity, including information sharing and joint training. Both sides decided to explore future common actions in areas with high economic potential such as digital transformation of SMEs and interoperability of digital identities, and electronic signatures to boost digital trade exchanges.
The Council meeting was co-chaired by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, the Japanese Minister for Digital Transformation, Taro Kono, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Takeaki Matsumoto, and the State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Fusae Ota.