Brussels, 04/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European and Japanese authorities may formalise the start of their talks at their forthcoming bilateral summit.
Having postponed the date of the bilateral summit on a number of occasions, Presidents Herman Van Rompuy (European Council) and José Manuel Barroso (Commission) may receive Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Brussels on 25 March. This will provide them with the opportunity to give their official approval to the launch of free-trade negotiations between the EU and its eastern Asian partner. An initial negotiation session could take place as soon as April, according to sources close to the matter.
In late November 2012, EU trade ministers gave their approval to the opening of these negotiations for the gradual and reciprocal liberalisation of the trade in goods, services and investment, the opening up of public procurement and the removal of non-tariff barriers.
The Commission's mandate includes a robust safeguard clause and a suspensive clause to halt the talks if Japan does not fulfil its commitments on non-tariff barriers. On the European side, concrete progress is anticipated in some ten key sectors (agriculture, public procurement, medical equipment, automotive, etc). In order to win over the more reluctant European capitals, Tokyo has already made concessions on a number of sensitive issues, such as the opening up of the Japanese market to European beef.
According to the Commission, an agreement would generate an increase in the EU's exports to Japan in the order of 30%, or an additional 0.8% of GDP, and more than 400,000 jobs for the EU. The negotiations could take between three and four years to conclude. (EH/transl.fl)