EOB meeting notes, March 22, 2006

EBC Meeting Minutes

EOB Meeting Notes

Wednesday, March 22, 2006; EBC Office, 08-30 a.m. - 10.30 a.m..

Attendees: R. Collasse, A. Murray, H. Tempel, P. Gibb, H. Porat, M. Lachaussee,
A. Zimmermann, F. Cazzoli, D. Delgorge, P.van Oppen, E. Ullner, T. Henriksen
Regrets: T. Varlid, M. Schaedlich

1. CHANGES IN EOB MEMBERSHIP and EXECUTIVE OFFICERS:

H. Tempel (President, DaimlerChrysler) replaces Gerhard Schlosser for the German Chamber
R. Collasse expressed thanks to H. Tempel and expressed appreciation for greater involvement of the German Chamber in the EBC
D. Delgorge has stepped down from the Senior Vice-Chair position and R. Collasse has appointed H. Tempel to the position
R. Collasse expressed thanks to D. Delgorge for his contribution as the Senior Vice-Chairman in 2005 and for the support of the BLCCJ
R. Collasse has appointed E. Ullner as EBC Treasurer
R. Collasse thanked E Ullner for accepting the treasurer position which is important from the aspect of corporate governance

2. REPORT FROM THE CHAIRMAN:

Lunch with Government Investment Luncheon Group （March 24 - EBC Hosting)
To be hosted by the EBC at the Beige Restaurant
JIC Meetings (March 13 and March 29)
Meetings are being held more frequently this year. The Cabinet Office requested the EBC to submit the 2005 White Paper officially to the JIC. The result was that many of the WP items have been included in the JIC agenda for discussion.
Briefing meeting with Ambassador Zepter (March 27)
Items to discuss will include the EU-Japan Business Dialogue Roundtable (EJBDRT), the Japan visit of President Barroso, etc.
EJBDRT - update (meeting with Yonemura San - March 30)
Items discussed included how to get the Financial Services Working Party started (AXA will co-chair this WP), and how to promote participation of high-level European executives. DaimlerChrysler can not attend this year due to a conflict of dates. Production of the WP1 paper (European side is produced by the EBC) will start soon. Japanese government and EC responses to the 2005 RT paper should be received in the coming weeks.
Presentation to journalists from Swedish "Affarsvarlden" (Business World) (April 10)
R. Collasse will make a presentation on the EBC and Japan to a group of visiting Swedish journalists from Affarsvarlden, which is the most highly respected newspaper in Sweden. H. Porat is coordinating the visit
Presentation to BCCJ (May 17)
R. Collasse will make a lunch presentation to the BCCJ on May 17. The objective is educate BCCJ members about current EBC activities.
Other items
R. Collasse will be decorated by the French Government with the Legion of Honour, Frances's highest award, on May 11.

3. REPORT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Main EBC office visits/activities
- Meeting with IBA Executive Director (February 15)
  A. Murray and J.Edberg met with Tony Sorrento (Executive Director of IBA) and discussed continuing cooperation and information exchange
- Meeting with Acting Director, Enterprise & Industry Directorate (EC) - Philippe Jean (February 16)
  P. Jean expressed concern about European participation in the RT in July. A. Murray said that the EBC will try to encourage participation although our responsibility relates only to co-chairing WP1. P. Jean also urged the EBC to join meetings managed by D-G Enterprise and Industry and the network of European organizations (many of which are EU chambers of Commerce). A. Murray pointed out that the dates of most meetings held so far conflicted with EBC activities and that the agendas of most meetings so far had not been relevant to the EBC (which is a purely lobbying organisation that focuses only on regulatory reform, etc. and is closely linked to the national chambers, unlike most of the other EBOs).
- Meeting with Osaka Consultants (March 8)
  Osaka City has asked a consulting group to promote the city and they requested EBC support if required.
- Lunch with Netherlands MOFA Director General and Ambassador Hamer (March 17)
  A. Murray was asked to provide a briefing on key issues at a small gathering at lunch. W. Wagner reported on the banking sector.
- Meeting with Ambassador Scannell & Deputy Head G. Keown re potential change in Irish stakeholder (March 20)
  Enterprise Ireland will be replaced by the Japan-Ireland Economic Association (JIEA), which the Embassy hopes will become an Irish Chamber of Commerce in due course. Gerard Keown (Deputy Head of the Irish Embassy) will participate in the EOB and BoG until the JIEA Board is elected in May. He will also serve as the Executive Director.
- Meeting with OECD Tokyo Office Director Kawamura (March 22)
  Asked EBC to broadcast an upcoming symposium in Tokyo to our members. OECD research missions visit the EBC for consultations once or twice a year.
- Meeting with EC official in charge of ETP programme in Brussels- Ms. J-H Niemi (March 24)
  A. Murray briefed Ms. Niemi on EBC's ETP recruitment promotion activities and the event planned for April 18.
- Change in office assistance from June
  C. Marquant will leave in June to take a course in the USA. An excellent replacement has been identified.
Report on Eurochambres-funded visit to Brussels (for ETP promotion training)
Refer to the attached itinerary.
First two days - training for ETP recruitment promotion (organised by Eurochambres). A. Murray made a presentation on Japan. The next two days were spent visiting EC contacts. A.Murray was asked at D-G Industry to check with the Medical Equipment Committee about interest in pursuing an MRA in the medical device sector. If there is interest a letter will be sent from the EBC to the EC requesting the EC to follow-up with the Japanese government. The next day was spent meeting with Baron G. Jacobs (Co-Chair of the RT), Eucomed and the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation (to discuss the RT).
EBC's ETP Promotion activities - including funding
Additional funding has been promised from Eurochambres so that the EBC can run a promotion lunch for ETP recruitment. Both R. Collasse and Ambassador Zepter are available on April 18 and the lunch will be held then. A. Murray is having one-to-one meetings with potential candidates interested in the progamme. Information about the programme is on the EBC website and the stakeholders have been requested to forward messages about the ETP promotion to their members.
Request from EBC for Participation in EC Seminar (April 6 & 7)
A seminar related to the EU-Japan action plan will be held in April in Brussels. R. Collasse cannot attend. EOB members were asked for their availability, but noone can attend. A. Murray will contact committee chairmen.
Upcoming EUCOMED visit
Under contract with Eucomed of Brussels, A. Murray is planning a 2-3-day intinerary for M. Wagner (Secretary General) and L. Cattani (Board Member) at the MHLW, PMDA, METI, EC Delegation, embassies and so on.
Report on start of ETPA in EBC office under contract
C. Marquant is now working 2 days per week for ETPA and 2 days for the EBC. The ETPA appears to be seeking payment in return for broadcasting chamber events and so on.

4. FUNDING & FUND-RAISING:

Date for audit of the EBC 2005 cash balances, cash receipts and disbursements - March 31
Mr. Kakuta will spend March 31 in the office auditing the 2005 accounts
QUICK UPDATE of current status and POTENTIAL LIFE of additional funding lines (other than stakeholder and committee member fees):
1. European Wood: Contract for 2006 and high probability of renewal for 2007
2. Ultracall donations: 2 potential additions
3. Golf (DaimlerChrysler cup) registration fees:
  Stable annually (provided the Golf Challenge continues)
4. ETPA office hosting contract
  In existence for 2006; thereafter uncertain
5. Eurochambres for ETP promotion
  Contract in existence for 2006, with potential for renewal in 2007 and 2008
6. Eucomed for visit organisation and liaison services
  If Eucomed is pleased with the visit planning this year, the chance of renewal is high.

Under discussion - Still to be confirmed:

Eurochambres for market report updates:
Eurochambres expect to hear in April if they are granted a Gateway contract. If so, EBC will be subcontracted by Eurochambres to update 3-4 market research reports.

Medical Equipment committee for "secretariat" hosting
A decision on this issue has been delayed. May not occur this year.

5. REPORT FROM THE POLICY DIRECTOR:

Committee activities: Refer to the attached summary
Cross-cutting items: Refer to the attached summary

6. ORGANISATIONAL ITEMS:

A. Committee Chairs to be contacted for replacement of H. Tempel as one of the three committee chairmen representatives in the BoG
Mr. Otto Benz, Chairman of the EBC Airline Committee is willing to stand for this position. An official outreach to committee chairmen to confirm this will be made in due course.

7. 4th NORTH-AMERICA-EUROPE GOLF CHALLENGE IN JAPAN (DAIMLERCHRYSLER CUP

Comments from Erik Ullner
The committee wants to meet with H. Tempel of DaimlerChrysler and R. Collasse to review the Golf Cup. The Golf Committee will be advised of a date subsequently.

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS: ………

Any Other Business