ABSTRACT
The EU and Japan have accelerated their individual efforts to secure cyberspace in the last ten years in the face of increasing cyber attacks. In doing so, they have recognised the benefits of bilateral and multilateral cooperation across a number of relevant spaces and fora. The EU and Japan are like-minded when it comes to cyberspace and are normatively compatible with regards to their vision of Internet governance – multi-stakeholder, open, free, and accessible. It is argued in this chapter that the EU and Japan clearly have common ground and a common incentive to remain and work within a coalition of actors that are seeking to ensure a secure and open Internet for all. This said, it is also posited that at the level of practice challenges remain, and cooperation in a strategic sense has yet to materialise in any substantive form; bilateral interactions though have facilitated effective coordination on issues of cybercrime, cyber norms and cybersecurity in multilateral fora, and cooperation at the level of research has been fruitful.
