Presenting the history of relations between the European Union and Japan, this book explains the origins and significance of the momentous 2018 Economic Partnership Agreement and its parallel Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Set within the historical context of the 1991 Hague Declaration and Action Plan of 2001, this book analyses the impact of recent background changes to the liberal trading order, the proliferation of free trade agreements, and uncertainty about role of the United States in the world on relations between Japan and the EU. Adopting a path-dependent approach, it illustrates how these agreements were reached as a result of growing patterns of cooperative behaviour between the EU and Japan, and the imprint of shared past experiences in areas from trade to security. In so doing, this book also raises important questions about the future of multilateral cooperation, exploring the potential for bilateral agreements to undermine the possibility of finding international solutions to increasingly international problems.

EU–Japan Relations and the Crisis of Multilateralism will appeal to students and scholars of European and Japanese politics and international relations, as well as policymakers internationally with an interest in these significant agreements.