Brussels, 27/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - European and Japanese leaders are expected to reach political agreement on launching discussions on a free-trade pact.
The annual EU-Japan summit, which will bring together Presidents Herman Van Rompuy (European Council) and José Manuel Barroso (Commission) and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Brussels on 28 May, will give the go-ahead, at the highest political level, to the launch of talks on a free-trade agreement, to strengthen economic relations between the two economies against a background of a Japan, battered by a double natural disaster and a huge nuclear accident.
Both sides are expected, over the next six months, to conduct a “scoping” exercise, setting out the extent of the future agreement, before beginning negotiations. Reiterating the strategic importance of EU-Japan relations, the European Council of 25 March authorised possible negotiations on a free-trade deal, with the proviso that Japan show willingness to take action to remove non-tariff barriers and restrictions to Japanese public contracts.
In addition to economic issues, the European and Japanese leaders will discuss energy cooperation and nuclear safety, and will talk about international affairs.
EU trade deficit falling. European exports of goods to Japan remained stable between 2000 and 2010, falling by only €1 billion, from €45 billion to €44 billion, but imports from Japan into the EU have fallen by 30%, dropping from €92 billion to €65 billion over that period, and thereby reducing the EU27 trade deficit from €47 billion to €21 billion. Japan, which accounts for 3% of EU exports and 4% of its imports, was the EU's sixth largest trading partner in 2010. In terms of investment, EU foreign direct investment (FDI) to Japan dropped from €5.6 billion in 2007 to €1.8 billion in 2008 and €0.2 billion in 2009 before a disinvestment of €4.1 billion in 2010. Japanese FDI also fell from €19.1 billion in 2007 to €1.5 billion in 2010. (E.H./transl.rt)