en.Wedoany.com Reported - The fourth meeting of the EU-Japan Digital Partnership Council was held on May 5, 2026, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Following the meeting, the European Commission issued a communiqué announcing that it will further deepen regulatory, research, and industrial cooperation with Japan in areas such as data governance, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, semiconductors, digital infrastructure, and online platforms.
European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, attended the meeting and held a press conference, emphasizing that "cooperation with like-minded partners such as Japan is indispensable." The Japanese side was represented by Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Yasufumi Hayashi, Minister for Digital Transformation Hisashi Matsumoto, and Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshiyuki Ochi. Hayashi also specifically noted the broad consensus between both sides on the issue of online protection for minors.
Specific advancement goals were set for each area of cooperation. In data governance, the two sides will jointly establish a "Data Strategy Working Group" to enhance data sharing levels and promote joint R&D and innovation. In the field of quantum technology, both sides announced the launch of a series of joint projects, including the Q-Neko initiative, which brings together the strengths of 16 leading European institutions and a Japanese team. This project aims to connect Europe's "Jupiter" and Japan's "Fugaku" supercomputers to develop a hybrid computing environment. The initiative is also linked to the "Horizon Europe" science program—Japan will join this flagship EU science program as an associate member, a move Virkkunen affirmed would accelerate joint research processes in AI and digital fields for both sides.
Semiconductor cooperation also saw new progress at this meeting. The EU and Japan agreed to further advance collaboration on next-generation advanced substrate design and R&D roadmap alignment to support the application of RISC-V automotive-grade high-reliability hardware platforms in the supply chain. Regarding platform governance, a specific cooperation arrangement was signed between an agency under the European Commission and Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to strengthen digital platform oversight. The two sides will coordinate positions on combating illegal and harmful content, transparency of platform operation rules, and notification and response systems.
The application scenarios for quantum technology were clearly defined. Both sides identified key areas for joint research, including materials science, carbon dioxide reduction, communication networks, fluid dynamics, and satellite image analysis. The EU-Japan Digital Partnership framework, under which this meeting was convened, was launched in 2022. Previously, comparisons on AI definitions and roadmap standardization have been completed, and the next phase will transition to the comprehensive interoperability of rules and enforcement mechanisms. According to the established schedule, the fifth Council meeting will be held in Tokyo in 2027.
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