3L7 Japanese Automobile Lobbying in Brussels
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3L7 Japanese Automobile Lobbying in Brussels - The Role of the Japanese Motor Car Industry in EU Policy Networks Sabine Spell Scottish Centre for Japanese Studies University of Stirling Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Stirling December 2000 To my parents and Christian without whom I could not achieve my dreams To my parents Errata Xiii (6) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Xiii (11 + 73) Organisation Industrielle des Constructeurs 10 (11) provided an excellent opportunity 28 (4) define 41 (21) and proposed that new 49 (12) the Sociétd 50 (10) to Japan 55 (10) proposal and in what way 60 (11) With regard to 68 (21) supports.. .provides (13) into its own hands 79 (11) subsidiaries, a fact which 166 (7) Constructeurs des 167 (20) hit their lowest of the decade 185 229 (4) their corporate (7) influence 232 rare occasion on which 258 (FN15) (6) interpretations and discussions 263 (23) produced in the EC 264 283 (1) is obvious (3) At this stage, one can only speculate 289 290 (15) but to support 293 (17) In this way 296 (2) beneath the surface 311 (19) not to offend them directly 312 (7) a reduction in the cost 317 (2) the cost 338 (24) who are not invited Contents Abstract vi Conventions vii Acknowledgements viii Glossary xi Introduction 1 Chapter I: The Policy Network Concept 23 1.1: Introduction of the Policy Network Concept 24 1.2: The Marsh and Rhodes Typology of Policy Networks 29 1.3: Policy Networks in the European Union 32 1.4: Recent Criticisms of Marsh's and Rhodes's 36 'Traditional' Concept Chapter II: Lobbying the European Union 44 11.1: Lobbying 'en générale'. The Skilful Use of Public 45 Affairs 11.2: Designed for the European Union par excellence - New 55 Lobbying Strategies for a New System of Governance 11.2.1: The National Route 56 11.2.1.1: The Council of Ministers 58 11.2.2: The Brussels Strategy 60 11.2.2.1: The European Commission 61 11.2.2.2: The European Parliament 66 11.3. Tackling the System: European Automobile Industry 70 Lobbying in the European Union Chapter III: The Development of the Japanese Automobile Industry 84 111.1: The Early Years of the Industry 84 111.2: The Japanese Automobile Industry after World War II 90 111.3: JAMA 96 111.4: The Individual Manufacturers 99 111.4.1: Toyota 103 111.4.2: Nissan 109 111.4.3: Honda 112 111.4.4: Mazda 117 111.4.5: Mitsubishi 120 111.4.6: Fuji 122 111.4.7: Daihatsu 123 111.4.8: Isuzu 125 111.4.9: Suzuki 126 111.4.10: Hino 127 111.4.11: Nissan Diesel 128 11 111.5: The Automobile Policy Network in Japan 128 Chapter IV: Accepting the Challenge: The Japanese Automobile 148 Industry in the European Union IV. 1: Gradual Steps into Unfamiliar Territory 150 IV. 1.1: Exports - Getting a Foot in the Door 150 IV. 1.2: Taking up Regional Production - Making Friends and 152 Meeting Old Adversaries IV.2: Japanese Automobile Actors and Agents in Europe - 163 Today IV.2. 1: The Economic Position of the Japanese Automobile 163 Industry in, and Contribution to, Present-Day Europe IV.2.2: JAMA 167 P1.2.3: The Economic Position of Individual Japanese 170 Manufacturers in Europe IV.2.3.1: Toyota 170 P1.2.3.2: Nissan 174 IV.2.3.3: Honda 180 P1.2.3.4: Mazda 183 IV.2.3.5: Mitsubishi 184 IV.2.3 .6: Fuji 185 IV.2.3 .7: Daihatsu 185 P1.2.3.8: Isuzu 186 IV.2.3 .9: Suzuki 187 111 IV.2.3.1O: Hino 189 IV.2.3.1 1: Nissan Diesel 189 IV.3: Japanese Automobile Industry Lobbying in the EU 190 IV.3.1: First Attempts at Tackling the System 190 IV.3.2: JAMA's Lobbying 194 IV.3.2.1: JAMA's Grass Roots Lobbying 198 IV.3.2.2: JAMA's Use of the National Strategy 202 [V.3.2.3: JAMA Tackles Brussels 204 IV.3.3.1: Detailed Examples of Lobbying the Brussels Polity 207 [V.3.3.1.1: The Commission 207 [V.3.3.1.2: The European Parliament 208 [V.3.4: The Individual Manufacturers Take Action 209 [V.3.4.1: The Relatively 'Silent' Majority 209 [V.3.4.2: The Active Minority 213 [V.3.4.2.1: Nissan 213 [V.3.4.2.2: Toyota 216 [V.4: Summary and Outlook to a Joint Future 225 Chapter V: Cases of Harmonious Dispute 230 V.1: Japanese Exports, Transplants and the Elements of 231 Consensus V.1.1: Japan's Automobile Export Background in the EU 235 V.1.2: A Whirlpool of Conflicting Opinions and Issues - 241 Different Actors Determine the Bargaining Process iv V.1.3: The Official Agreement and Its Multiple Interpretations 262 V.1.4: Evaluation of the Japanese Performance 270 V.2: CO2 273 V.2.1: The Government Develops Its Environmental 273 Consciousness - the Industry Complies V.2.2: The Actual Agreement 279 V.2.3: JAMA Accepts the Challenge Publicly and Actively to 283 Fight the Industry's Cause in Europe V.2.4: Effects of JAMA's Interest Representation 292 V.3: Cases of 'Joint Interaction' 299 V.3.1: Brazil 300 V.3.2: Indonesia 303 V.3.3: Canada 308 V.4: The Harmonisation of Standards 312 V.5: Toyota's 'Virtual Warehouse Scheme' 320 Conclusion 324 Appendix 347 1. List of Directorate-Generals of the Santer-Commission 347 2. Portfolios of the 20 Commissioners of the Santer-Commission 348 Bibliography 352 V Abstract This study examines the lobbying the Japanese automobile industry in the European Union. It investigates how the Japanese automobile industry interacts with the decision-making authorities in Brussels in its attempts to influence the policy process of the European Union. In the post-war period the Japanese automobile industry has expanded into all major world markets and plays an important economic and political role in these. However, until the 1990s, the Japanese automobile industry enjoyed hardly any interaction with the policy making institutions of the European Union. This has changed dramatically in the last decade but, thus far, the process has not been subject to any empirical investigation. This study, which is largely based upon interviews with the major actors in the process of interaction between the governing institutions and the automobile industry in the EU, aims to correct this deficiency. This thesis employed the policy network concept as a framework to develop an understanding of this particular case of government-interest group interaction. The thesis investigated whether the Western concept of policy networks could successfu1Iyplied to the Japanese automobile industry as a non-western actor in the unique system of governance of the EU. By doing so, the thesis has demonstrated that the policy network concept is not a purely Western construct, but can be applied with equal validity to the case of Japan. Therefore, this thesis has taken an importani. a step towards proving the universal applicability of the policy network concept. vi Conventions Japanese names are given in the Japanese form with the family name first. Except for widely known words and geographical locations, long vowel sounds in Japanese words and names are indicated with a macron as in Honda Sôichirô. Japanese terms are put in italics followed by a general explanation of the term the first time they occur. VII Acknowledgements The research for this thesis was made possible by generous grants and studentships from the Deutsches Institut fUr Japanstudien in Tokyo, the Faculty of Arts at the University of Stirling, the Franz-Marie-Christinen-Stiftung (Thurn und Taxis), the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee, and the Kyushu Electric Power Corporation. During the three years of my Ph.D. many people have helped, encouraged and supported me and I would like to take the opportunity to thank them. A thesis such as this is very dependent upon interviews. Many people from interest groups, the automobile industry and governing institutions in Europe and Japan took time out of very busy schedules to answer my numerous questions and provide me with the necessary information for my work. Without them, this thesis could never have been achieved. For the sake of confidentiality, they cannot be personally acknowledged here. However, I would particularly like to thank representatives from the umbrella organisations of the Japanese and European automobile industry, JAMA and ACEA, for the many interviews which were granted to me and also for their willingness to arrange meetings with other people. My supervisor, Prof John Crump, was one of the best and most constructive supervisors any Ph.D. student could have wished for. Without his enlightening comments and criticism this thesis would not have been possible. Thanks also to other members of the Scottish Centre for Japanese Studies, Dr. Kweku Ampiah, Dr. Margaret Mehl, Dr. Tessa Caroll, and Fumiko Hasegawa-Mclntyre for freely giving advice and encouragement when I needed it. viii Dr. Elizabeth Bomberg and Dr. Antje Brown greatly improved my thesis by commenting on its political science aspects. Particular thanks goes to Dr. Martin Porter for discussing my thesis from the viewpoint of political science with me. If he and his wife, Nikki Pattison, had not generously let me stay with them in Brussels my fieldwork there would, without doubt, have been much more complicated and much less enjoyable. Thanks are also due to Jan and Bob Lovering, Frank Scheifgen and Seki Taeko for letting me share their homes when conducting fieldwork in England and Japan.