EBC Meeting Minutes

EOB Meeting Notes

Thursday, March 22, 2007; EBC Office, 08:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

      

Attendees: A. Murray, J. Edberg, K. Harris, D. Delgorge, P. Gibb, A. Groff, M. Loefflad, K. Moynes (for G. Keown), H. Porat, T. Strand, C. Thenevin (for M. Theoval), E. Ullner
Regrets: R. Collasse, C. Eilersen, G. Keown, H. Tempel, M. Theoval, P. van Oppen.

The Executive Director offered apologies on behalf of the EBC Chairman for his absence from the meeting, due to a medical emergency in the family.

1. CHANGES IN EOB MEMBERSHIP and EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The Executive Director welcomed Alberto Groff to the meeting, as the new representative in the EOB from the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry, taking over from Andre Zimmermann. She also confirmed that Michel Lachaussee, now Chairman of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had been succeeded in the EOB by Michel Theoval, represented at the meeting today by Claude Thenevin.

2. REPORT ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRMAN

  1. The Policy Director reported on the meeting between an EBC Delegation and the new Minister for Regulatory Reform, Yoshio Watanabe, on 15 February, to discuss the EBC Report 2006. The Minister made a number of interesting comments, including that a) the high cost structure at Japan's airports stems from inherent inefficiency and so cannot be allowed to continue; b) the current re-entry permit system is unnecessarily burdensome and will be revised; and c) the issue of food safety remains of primary importance to Japan but further efforts are being made towards the adoption of international food standards.

  2. The EBC Chairman will be participating in the event organised by the German Embassy, on behalf of the EU Presidency, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Rome Treaties on 25 March. Prime Minister Abe is expected to be present. The EBC press release in support of this event, underlining what the development of the EU has meant for business, has been finalised and will be published today (copy distributed).

  3. The new Japanese Co-Chair of Working Party 1 of the EU-Japan Business Dialogue Round Table (EUJBDRT) has been confirmed as Itaru Koeda, Co-Chairman of Nissan Motor Co Ltd. The EBC Chairman has invited Mr Koeda to a breakfast meeting on 27 March.

  4. The EBC Chairman will present the work of the EBC to the Board of the Danish Chamber of Commerce on 30 March. (subsequent to this meeting the date has been changed by the DCCJ to May 25)

  5. The EBC has been invited to a breakfast meeting with Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, on 4 April. The EBC Delegation will be led by the Chairman, who will be accompanied by the Chairman and Members of the EBC Telecommunications Carriers and Equipment Committees.

  6. The EBC Chairman has been invited to make a presentation on 11 April on the work of the EBC to the Board of the Japan Ireland Economic Association.

  7. The EBC has been invited to lunch with David O'Sullivan, Director General for Trade in the European Commission, on 12 April. Mr O'Sullivan will be visiting Japan for the inaugural High Level Trade Dialogue between the EU and METI. This will be an opportunity for the EBC to stress its support for the successful conclusion of WTO negotiations in the context of the Doha Development Agenda, and the need to strengthen trade and investment links between Japan and the EU, not only at government but also business levels, for example by working together to forge an economic partnership agreement. (Subsequent to this meeting, the lunch has been cancelled by the Delegation and the EBC Chairman has been asked to join a dinner with D-G O'Sullivan on April 15)

3. EU-JAPAN BUSINESS DIALOGUE ROUND TABLE (EUJBDRT)

The 2007 Round Table meeting will take place on Sunday 3 and Monday 4 June. The venue will be Berlin. This will allow the Co-Chairs to present the Round Table recommendations to the EU-Japan Summit taking place in Berlin on the following day, and will enable participation of representatives of the EU and Japanese Authorities, who will be traveling to the Summit and the subsequent G8 meeting. The EBC Chairman, who is also Co-Chair of Working Party 1, has confirmed he will make himself available, subject to an appropriate programme being agreed. Initial drafts of the programme, apparently proposed by the European Co-Chair, Georges Jacobs, and his sherpa from BusinessEurope (formerly known as UNICE), did not allow any time for Working Party presentations, even though the coming together of European and Japanese firms to develop the Working Party reports and recommendations is fundamental to the purpose of the EUJBDRT and one of its unique selling points. The latest draft programme has been altered to reinstate these presentations, albeit the time allowed is very short. Similarly, the initial positioning of the EBC Chairman simply as a moderator in a session on "Strengthening EU-Japan Economic Co-operation" has been changed to allow him to make the opening remarks. Nevertheless, other concerns about the programme persist, including the involvement of the President of the German Industry organisation BDI, who is scheduled to make a speech and to participate in the press conference alongside the Round Table Co-Chairs. The EBC believes that the Round Table should be safeguarded as an EU-level event and not become a forum for individual Member States. This point was underlined in a letter sent by the EBC Chairman to Georges Jacobs on 18 March (copy distributed), to which a reply is awaited.
In the meantime, in response to a request from Georges Jacobs, the EBC Secretariat has drafted ideas for "Terms of Reference" for the EUJBDRT, since there is currently no formal agreement on how the Round Table should be constituted or how it should operate. The first draft has been sent to Mr Jacobs for his review and comments (copy distributed), with a view to developing a version that can be sent for consultation with all Round Table Members and eventually adopted in its final format.

4. REPORT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  1. The EBC Secretariat arranged an extensive programme of meetings for the EUCOMED chairman and secretary general, when they visited Tokyo on 19 and 20 February (copy of programme distributed). During the visit, EUCOMED proposed that the regulatory process for medical technology should be harmonised on the basis of the requirements for the European "CE marking" and that the CE marking might then be formally accepted for products in Japan. The idea was well received by the Japanese government and political contacts consulted and it is likely that a task force will be set up to develop the proposal further.

  2. The Executive Director held a meeting with Peter Suszuki-Tanaka, President of the new Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tokyo on 21 February, and has been invited to address the Chamber's inaugural meeting on 29 March. The Chamber will become a member of the EBC, albeit initially with observer status.

  3. The new President of the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Armin Frauenknecht, visited the Executive Director on 23 February to discuss the work of the EBC and his own role.

  4. The formal recruitment lunch held on 12 March to launch and promote the 2007-8 Executive Training Programme in Japan (ETP) was very well attended and included interventions from the EBC Chairman, the EU Ambassador, academics involved in running the programme, and ETP alumni and current participants. Fernando Ramos from Eurochambres was present as the overall coordinator of ETP recruitment.

  5. The Executive Director has had a number of discussions this month with current participants in the ETP programme, to help them integrate into the European business community in Japan. The Secretariat has in the past introduced those interested to relevant EBC Committees, although whether or not they were allowed to attend meetings was at the discretion of the Committee Chair. National Chambers of Commerce may themselves wish to consider recruiting ETP participants into their own organisations, although this would probably need to be at a reduced membership rate.

  6. Osaka is currently engaged in a major campaign to promote itself as a centre for business and industry. As part of this, the Executive Director was invited to attend a seminar at the Mayor's residence in Osaka on 16 March.

  7. Office activities: Representatives of both the Shinbashi-based Geisha Group and the Matsuyama Ballet Troupe have visited the Secretariat to ask for help in publicising their forthcoming events.

5. FUNDING AND FUND RAISING

The draft "EBC statement of cash balances and cash receipts and disbursements for 2006" distributed at the February EOB meeting is due to be finalised and audited on 26 March. Beyond stakeholder and committee membership fees, the major sources of funding for the EBC in 2007 will be:

  • Eurochambres - fee for ETP promotion plus any fees applicable for successful recruitment of EBC-identified candidates to the programme;

  • EUCOMED - annual fee for arranging 3-4 visits per annum to Tokyo;

  • European Wood - payment for use of part of EBC office and facilities;

  • Ultracall - commission paid by Ultracall when customers introduced by EBC use services;

  • Golf (DaimlerChrysler Cup) - registration fees;

  • Eurochambres - fee for updating market research reports that contribute to the European Commission's "Gateway" programme. (The last of three reports ordered by Eurochambres this time round has just been finalised and submitted by Sarah Mayo.)

The amount of income that can be expected from the ETPA for hosting their office is currently in doubt, since they are experiencing a temporary cash-flow crisis and future payments may be at reduced rates. Meanwhile, the Secretariat is still awaiting a decision from the ISEB (part of the British Computer Society), regarding their possible interest in having the EBC host an office for them. Negotiations are still in progress.

The EBC will shortly start charging for work to fulfil ad hoc requests from non-EBC members needing assistance to identify and approach the relevant Japanese authorities concerning regulatory queries and problems. This service will be advertised on the EBC website. The intention is to act only within the mandate of the EBC, in representing the interests of EU business in trade policy issues, and will not infringe on the work of established consultancies working on a longer-term basis with new entrants.

6. REPORT FROM THE POLICY DIRECTOR

  • Insurance: The EBC Committee has made a third and final presentation to the Postal Insurance Privatisation Committee. While US counterparts have expressed strong concern that the manner in which Japan Post may be allowed to operate will result in unfair competition for other players in the insurance market, the EBC Committee has taken the view that, overall, the privatisation represents more of an opportunity than a threat.

  • Banking: The drive to restore Tokyo to the position of Asian financial centre has spawned a number of Government-backed study groups. Both the EBC and ACCJ were invited to present to an FSA-sponsored group on 6 March, on what action needs to be taken by the Japanese authorities. While the ACCJ presentation ranged across education reform, better language training, etc., the EBC focused solely on allowing universal banking and stressed this as the sine qua non. The EBC Committee has subsequently been invited back to discuss its position in more detail.

  • Human Resources: The EBC Committee is continuing to meet key politicians to make the case for abolition of the re-entry permit system for foreign residents. The response to this proposal is generally favourable.

  • Retail, Wholesale, Distribution: The Committee is organising a seminar on 12 April at Europa House, featuring a keynote speech by Roy Larke, author of "Japan - A Modern Retail Superpower", who will address the theme of "Retailing in Japan: Imaginary Barriers or Real Challenges". This will be followed by a panel discussion involving representatives from Ikea, Tesco, LVMH and Copyrights Japan. Invitations to participate will shortly be sent to all EBC Members. The objectives are to recruit new members and stimulate the committee. (Subsequently cancelled)

  • Triangular Mergers: The long debate on the scheme to allow triangular mergers in Japan is reaching its closing stages. The Government is moving towards a formal decision that will allow companies not listed in Japan nevertheless to participate in triangular mergers. The Ministry of Finance and METI are continuing to discuss the tax treatment of such mergers and the precise definition of the type of "paper" company that will be permitted to participate.

  • EUJBDRT: The report from the EU-side of Working Party 1 (Trade and Investment) is currently being drafted, based on the key issues raised in the EBC Report 2006. Committees are invited to contact the Policy Director concerning any further issues that they feel should be included.

  • Internet Television: Three EBC Committee Chairmen have been interviewed for programmes on the soon-to-be-launched EBC channel on Internet television. Once the programmes are ready (expected end March), details will be sent to all EBC Members and a link included on the EBC website..

7. DAIMLERCHRYSLER CUP

Erik Ullner advised that, following consultations with members and the sponsoring company, the annual golf competition will be staged in 2007 on the same lines as before, as the DaimlerChrysler Cup, an EU-US event. The venue is unchanged (Atsugi Kokusai). The date will be Friday 28 September.

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Duco Delgorge drew attention to the symposium on the Environment being organised by the Roppongi Rotary Club on 23 April in the Mori Tower. The event will be in Japanese. Anyone interested in attending should contact Duco Delgorge for further information.