Juncker congratulates Emperor Naruhito
The president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker congratulates on His Imperial Majesty Naruhito on his accession to the throne. “My best wishes for a long, peaceful & prosperous reign. There could be no better occasion than the beginning of a new Japanese era, Reiwa, to further develop our friendship & our harmonious relations” Juncker wrote in his Twitter microblog.
Previously the president of the European Council Donald Tusk suggested the name of the new imperial era #Reiwa could become the motto of the EU-Japan relations.
Emperor Naruhito has ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the 126th ruler of his dynasty, and Japan’s first modern monarch, taking his nation into a new era.
The EU and Japan’s Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force on February 1, 2019. EU firms already export over €58bn in goods and €28bn in services to Japan every year.
The agreement secures the opening of services markets, in particular financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications and transport. It furthermore:
- facilitates to EU companies access to the procurement markets of 54 large Japanese cities, and removes obstacles to procurement in the economically important railway sector at national level;
- addresses specific sensitivities in the EU, for instance in the automotive sector, with transition periods of up to 7 years before customs duties are eliminated.
