EU - Japan cooperation in humanitarian areas: Healthcare, education, science, culture, environmental protection

Abstract

At current stage, European Union and Japan are strategic partners, developing comprehensive bilateral interaction nearly in all possible aspects of international relations. This research is aimed at the analysis of the humanitarian areas of their partnership. The paper discusses the EU - Japan interaction in healthcare, education, science, culture, and environmental protection, including such aspects as bilateral dialogues, people-to-people exchanges, joint education programs, joint research projects, and other initiatives. The authors conclude that the humanitarian track of the relations has developed considerably over the last few years. The most intense cooperation can be seen in science, which is determined by the economic needs of both partners and their desire to develop strategic industries. Cooperation in healthcare comes second in terms of intensity, which has been caused by the pandemic and other common threats. Education and culture ties demonstrate fewer joint projects. However, the realization of the first region-to-country agreements between the EU and Japan has been started in these areas, too. Finally, environmental protection as an area of bilateral cooperation is mainly represented by the coordination of the parties’ international policies. The research also demonstrates that the EU is the initiator and an active party of the cooperation. Meanwhile, Japan accepts the initiatives of its partner and can use the situation in order to fulfill its interests. At the same time, the cooperation is potentially beneficial for both partners, thanks to their compatible level of economic development and common interests.

Keywords

• european union
• japan
• cooperation
• healthcare
• education
• science
• culture
• environmental issues