EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová and Japan Commissioner of the Personal Data Information Protection Commission Haruhi Kumazawa have issued a joint statement after holding a "constructive meeting in Tokyo ... to accelerate work towards achieving mutual adequacy findings as soon as possible in 2018," according to a European Commission press release. "By ensuring the free flow of personal data, a simultaneous finding of adequacy will complement and enhance the benefits of the Japan-EU EPA, while strengthening the protection of the fundamental right to privacy," they stated. After exploring solutions to fill gaps between the two systems, "They agreed to move to the next stage to work on the details of those solutions and accelerate the pace of the talks. With this in mind," the statement concludes, "the next high-level meeting will be organised at the beginning of 2018 in Brussels with a view to finalising the discussions." 
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