ABSTRACT
EU–Japan relations have developed into a fully-fledged strategic partnership encompassing economy and trade, security and shared values. Brussels and Tokyo concluded an ambitious Free Trade Agreement (FTA)/Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in December 2017. The EU has also taken positive steps towards interacting with China and other Asian actors to promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region through various forms of dialogue on Asian security. This chapter will seek to answer two questions: first, to what extent do EU–Japan strategic relations have an impact on Asia and on Asian security? Second, what influence does the EU–China strategic partnership, announced in the early 2000s, have on EU–Japan security relations, including the envisaged EU–Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) that Brussels and Tokyo are (as of February 2018) about to adopt? This chapter addresses both questions, and focuses on the role EU–China relations play in three dimensions of European–Japanese cooperation: security, economics and values.
