Exchange: EU, Japan working on free trade deal
European Union and Japan said Saturday they had agreed to work towards a multi-billion-euro free trade deal.
BRUSSELS:
The European Union and Japan said Saturday they had agreed to work towards a multi-billion-euro free trade deal linking the world’s third biggest economy to the globe’s largest market. A statement issued after a Japan-EU summit said leaders “agreed to start the process” for “negotiations for a deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA)/Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), addressing all issues of shared interest to both sides.” Concretely, this means Tokyo and Brussels will have to draw up a list of problems to address, and goals to achieve before the 27-member EU gives its official go-ahead to the launch of FTA negotiations. The EU’s trade deficit with Japan, its sixth trading partner, had narrowed over the last decade from 47 billion euros in 2000 to 21 billion in 2010. European nations and business leaders complained of market access problems for foreign firms in Japan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2011.
The European Union and Japan said Saturday they had agreed to work towards a multi-billion-euro free trade deal linking the world’s third biggest economy to the globe’s largest market. A statement issued after a Japan-EU summit said leaders “agreed to start the process” for “negotiations for a deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA)/Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), addressing all issues of shared interest to both sides.” Concretely, this means Tokyo and Brussels will have to draw up a list of problems to address, and goals to achieve before the 27-member EU gives its official go-ahead to the launch of FTA negotiations. The EU’s trade deficit with Japan, its sixth trading partner, had narrowed over the last decade from 47 billion euros in 2000 to 21 billion in 2010. European nations and business leaders complained of market access problems for foreign firms in Japan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2011.