The prospects for closer co-operation between the European Union and Japan are "vast" and more work is needed to solidify existing ties, according to a report co-authored by a King's academic.
Professor Ramon Pacheco Pardo was invited to compile an analysis on the EU-Japan relationship for the EU's Committee on Foreign Affairs, examining progress made in recent years and highlighting areas where further work can be carried out.
Professor Pacheco Pardo, head of the Department of European and International Studies at King's, presented the report with co-author Dr Eva Pejsova (Brussels School of Governance) to MEPs in Brussels on 23 January.
Professor Pardo said: "This report highlights the increasing importance that the European Parliament in particular and the EU at large affords to key Asian and Indo-Pacific partners. Japan, South Korea and other countries in the region are becoming increasingly central to European security in the context of China's rise, growing Sino-American competition or Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
In the report, the academics note that "much has been achieved" in building the partnership between the two parties but that the prospects for further co-operation are "vast", particularly around the governance of the global commons, and the need to constructively engage with 'Global South' countries.
The report concludes: "The efforts of authoritarian regimes to make the rules and shape a new world order are becoming increasingly apparent, especially in areas that are not yet fully governed by international law, be they new technologies, the information space, outer space or the deep seas.
"With their combined economic weight, technological advancement and normative power, the EU and Japan are well-positioned to take the lead in promoting norms and standards in these new areas that would be sustainable and equitable for all actors."
You can read the report in full here.
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Head of the Department of European & International Studies and Professor of International Relations
