EU-Japan Security Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities

The main aim of this paper will be to illuminate further the underlying perceptions, norms, principles and logics that underpin the EU approach with the objective of providing a contextual platform for exploring the prospect for cooperation and convergence with Japan on issues relating to the security of cyberspace. The paper will be structured in the following way in order to achieve its main objectives. Section I will provide a brief overview of the conceptual landscape and its relevance for understanding the EU’s cybersecurity development. Section II will sketch out the EU’s approach, logics and values that underpin it. Section III will then focus on EU cyber threat perceptions, cybersecurity instruments and practices and the international dimension in particular. The paper concludes by providing thoughts on the EU approach and what this potentially implies for future cooperation with what is considered to be a ‘like-minded’ state, Japan.