Tokyo - The European Union and Japan want to strengthen their strategic partnership and to build a ''fair and flexible'' framework for climate change at their annual summit held Wednesday in Tokyo.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the
27-nation bloc, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso are participating in the 17th Japan-EU summit that will also focus on rising food and oil prices, the situation in Tibet, among other issues.

Japan, as host of the G-8 summit in July in Hokkaido, wants to put the rising prices natural resources and commodities on the agenda as they could slow down growth in the global economy and have negative effects on developed and developing countries.

On climate change, the two sides agree that setting ''midterm quantified national emissions reduction targets'' is essential for building a ''fair and flexible'' carbon-capping framework beyond the 2012 expiration of the Kyoto Protocol.

The Group of Eight energy ministers meets in June in Aomori, Japan.

The July 7-9 leaders summit groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. The European Union will also participate. (dpa)