Julian Ryall meets EU delegation ambassador Hugh Richardson
Hugh Richardson is the outgoing ambassador and head of the delegation of the European Union to Japan. He has led Europe’s diplomatic presence here since August 2006, and was also involved in economic and commercial negotiations between Europe and Japan in the mid-1980s. He retired this May and is returning to Europe with his Flemish wife, Lisbeth, to indulge his passion for sailing.
What was the biggest achievement of the delegation during your time here?
There has not been a single thing as it has been more of a process. We have developed a fantastically collaborative relationship with the member states’ embassies and worked together to get the attention of politicians and civil servants. That was not always the case in the past.
Was that hard to achieve?
Logistically, it has been complicated. There are 25 member state ambassadors and embassies here and we meet at all levels, the political, financial, the ambassadorial and others. So it is very labour intensive. There is a huge amount of information sharing and consultation on the issues of the day. At the other end of the scale, Japan, when it is not navel-gazing – which it spends a lot of time doing at the moment – has its own preoccupations. Joint first on that list would be China and the United States, followed by the Koreas, North and South, and then the wider environment of the Pacific, East and Southeast Asia and Russia.
So the European Union, even though for many Japanese it is the most important market and partner, is still fairly far down the list of priorities. We are constantly reminding both the Europeans and the Japanese that we are both democracies with free markets, a free press and good records on human rights, so we have a lot in common, particularly when you look at some of the neighbours here. This relationship is a rock of stability in a very stormy sea and we should develop and encourage it at all levels.
In what areas might you have hoped to make more progress?
Non-tariff barriers, particularly in view of the summit in Prague in 2009, in which Japan and the EU identified four areas where, supposedly, quick progress would be easy: government procurement, car safety standards, medical equipment and wood product standards. On three areas there has been a little bit of progress, but if we measure the results in terms of trade flows then it has been zilch. That is a disappointment.
What will be the biggest task facing the incoming EU ambassador?
Putting in place a new framework for EU-Japan relations. That relationship is now based on the Joint Action Plan that was introduced in 2001 and runs until December 2011. We need to put something new in place, but there is huge debate over what it should be, and how it should be formulated. The current action plan is a non-binding series of commitments but, frankly, the results have been a disappointment. There is still not enough trade, cross-investment or collaboration in such areas as research and development aid.
What changes have you noticed in Japan-EU relations during your time here?
I was in Japan as the trade representative between 1984 and 1988. At that time, relations with Japan were tense and controversial. We had a tendency to trade insults. For example, one person referred to the Japanese as workaholics who lived in rabbit hutches. When I came back in 2006, I was really struck by a lot of change. First of all, the acrimony had gone out of the relationship, and the trade balance was less absurdly imbalanced. Then we had the election and just before the vote, Yukio Hatoyama published an article in which he demonstrated a significant level of knowledge of the EU. He explained how the EU works, and the subsidiarity principle, and how it could be applied as a model for East-Asian integration. Suddenly, we have a prime minister who has knowledge of and interest in the EU, and who wants to engage with the EU.
Which areas have benefited the most from closer ties between the two sides?
There are some specific examples of good collaboration; Afghanistan is one area where we are working together. The Japanese working in Afghanistan are being looked after by our member states. We are both off the coast of Somalia dealing with piracy and sharing information. We have close positions on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, although we did not work closely enough in Copenhagen during the discussions. We are also working together in nuclear fusion research, at Cardache in France and Rokkasho here in Japan.
Can you identify any turning point in the relationship during your time here?
That would have to be the summit of April 28, where there was clearly extremely good chemistry between Prime Minister Hatoyama and Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. They have set up a high-level group that will release an interim report this autumn on a framework for the future of our relations. There is a genuine desire to relaunch and reinvigorate the relationship.
What have we been able to learn from the recent economic turmoil in Europe?
It has received a lot of attention here and that’s no coincidence because Japan has a lot in common with Greece, such as a high debt to GDP ratio and high levels of borrowing. But I don’t think Japan is in the same position as Greece because it is not having the same problems servicing its debt.
What is the status of the talks on a free-trade agreement between Japan and the EU?
This is part of what the high-level group will be looking at, but there is currently deep scepticism in Europe that Japan can deliver on non-tariff barriers following the failure of the four test cases. A lot of the next 12 months will be devoted to seeing if Japan can actually deliver. They want us to reduce tariffs on cars and electronic products; our objective is not tariffs but standards, certification procedures, customs procedures and so on. It would be very easy to sign an agreement on these issues, but there need to be measurable results and trade flows that show the results.
What has been the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the EU foreign service?
It is still early days, but I’m no longer the head of the commission delegation here, but of the EU delegation, which is quite a significant change. The EU now has an ambassador in virtually every capital city in the world. We operate under a new legal framework. My boss is Catherine Ashton, vice president of the commission, and she is answerable to both the member states and the commission. That’s a big legislative change and will mean that doing business with the EU will become easier. Now we know the chain of command and that the commission speaks for the EU. It also gives the member states more ownership.
Away from your duties in Japan, how have you been able to relax? I understand that you are a keen sailor …
I have a Japanese friend who invites me onto his boat but I’m looking forward to spending four months pottering around the Baltic after my retirement before returning to southern Holland. I’ve done a lot of travelling all over Japan, much of it by car because we have a Labrador, and I’ve skied all over northern Japan. If I had to choose a favourite place, I would say Nozawa in Nagano or the Shiretoko peninsula in Hokkaido. But I’m looking forward to getting back to the sailing.
If you could give one piece of advice to your replacement, what would it be?
You have to invest intellectually in this country. You have to empathise with and understand the country in order to operate effectively here. It is essential to acquire at least a minimal knowledge of the Japanese language. You must maintain an active partnership between the member states, the embassies and the EBC; that triangle is the key to success.