The 46th Annual Conference Programme
November 8-9, 2024, Shizuoka University
Plenary Session: A Critical Analysis of the von der Leyen Commission II
Plenary Session I Japanese Session
Plenary Session II English Session
Symposium: The EU, AI, and the Digital Age
A Critical Analysis of the von der Leyen Commission II
Ursula von der Leyen was reappointed as President of the European Commission and started her second mandate with a new team of Commissioners on 1 December 2024.
However, through the election year 2024 and the generation of new power and gravity on the globe, Europe seems to face more challenges than those in her first Commission 2019-2024.
On the day of her election to be President, she presented the seven key priorities of the next European Commission, “Europe’s Choice: Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2024-2029”, to the European Parliament, corresponding to Europe’s many agendas: i.e., prosperity and competitiveness, defence and security, social fairness, quality of life, democracy, and globalization. As Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030 agreed upon in October 2025 by the leaders of 27 Member States has shown, the von der Leyen Commission II seems to have already moved Europe’s policy strategies forward along with the key priorities.
At the point of time when nearly one year has passed since the von der Leyen Commission started, we stop to examine at the 2025 Conference the results and outcomes her second Commission has brought about with the aim of comparing them with those of her first Commission.
We are pleased to invite Professor Urlich Haltern from the University of Munich, as well as Deputy Minister Thomas Gnocci from the Delegation of the EU to Japan, to the latter part of the plenary session, exclusively conducted in English.
The EU, AI, and the Digital Age
In the era of digitalization, not only the EU but also the rest of the world has pursued digital policies from various perspectives, including researching and inventing new technologies towards a competitive economy, while protecting human rights. The EU has adopted its unique approach towards a digital single market since 2015, encompassing 16 strategies through which it has adopted 28 relevant regulatory tools during the Juncker European Commission.
In 2024, it adopted the AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, adopted 13 June 2024), in the context of EU’s unique regulatory tools towards establishing a digital single market.
However, in November 2025, soon after the Conference is closed, the EU released Digital Omnibus Regulation Proposal to make technical amendments to a voluminous set of digital legislation, including the AI Act, for the purpose of bringing relief to businesses etc. as well as stimulating competitiveness. It is observed that this EU’s move has been made in the reflection of deliberations on the issue of digital regulatory framework in the UK and Japan. Each jurisdiction may have offered a legislative model to the others.
The 2025 public symposium of the Conference focuses on the EU’s digital strategies. Some panellists particularly focus on AI regulation from a comparative perspective while the others take some of the digital issues of the EU from broader perspectives.