Brussels, 25/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Despite the fact that the Tokyo summit has been postponed due to the Cyprus crisis, European and Japanese leaders have officially kicked off negotiations on political and free-trade cooperation.
Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe and Presidents of the European Council and of the European Commission Herman van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso spoke over the telephone on Monday 25 March to officially launch negotiations for two separate agreements, one on political cooperation, the other on commercial. Due to the Cyprus crisis and the Eurogroup of 24 March, the European leaders were forced at the last minute to abandon plans to travel to Tokyo, where the 21st bilateral EU-Japan summit was due to be held. This meeting has, therefore, been postponed to a later date, which has not yet been agreed upon.
Despite this setback, Van Rompuy, Barroso and Abe kicked off negotiations on Monday for a partnership agreement aiming to develop bilateral dialogue and cooperation on a broad range of political and global issues. This future framework agreement aims to build upon sectoral cooperation and coordination to meet global and regional challenges. It will cover foreign and security policy, development cooperation, sustainable development, justice, the economy, research and innovation, education and culture. Talks proper will start in April.
The three leaders also gave their approval to the launch of free-trade negotiations, which will cover tariff liberalisation, the lifting of non-tariff barriers and regulatory convergence, services, investment and public procurement.
Although he welcomed the official launch of the trade negotiations, Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, who did travel to Tokyo, pointed out in a speech to representatives of the Japanese and European employer associations that Japan needed to make major efforts to meet its goals. “There are still too many obstacles (to access to the Japanese market). We are faced with discriminatory rules, different standards and restrictions in public procurement”, he regretted, adding that European exports to the Japan have fallen in recent years, from third place ten years ago to seventh place today. He took the view that the removal of these non-tariff barriers would constitute the “key” to the negotiations. De Gucht also reminded his audience that the European negotiation mandate had a revision clause in 2014, to take stock of Japanese progress in applying roadmaps on non-tariff barriers, and a suspensive clause if the progress was insufficient. The first round of negotiations is scheduled to be held in Brussels in the week of 15-19 April.
In 2011, the EU represented 11% of Japan's trade, making the archipelago its third-largest trade partner. Japan is the EU's seventh-largest export market. In the same year, EU exports to Japan were worth €49 billion and its imports from its eastern Asian partner €69 billion. The EU has a recurrent trade deficit with the Japanese Archipelago. It remains Japan's third-largest export market and its second-largest source of import after China. Additionally, EU foreign direct investment in Japan is still low compared to the other industrialised countries. The free-trade agreement hoped for by both partners would bring about an increase in EU GDP from 0.6% to 0.8%. EU exports to Japan stand to rise by 32.7%, whilst Japanese exports would climb by 23.5%.
In the course of their telephone conversation on Monday, the European and Japanese leaders also reaffirmed their “continuing global commitment” to strong, balanced and sustainable growth and financial stability at planetary level. Against this backdrop, Van Rompuy, Barroso and Abe exchanged their views on the situation in Cyprus and measures to reinforce the architecture of economic and monetary union. Prime Minister Abe confirmed that Japan would remain steadfast in its support to the EU's efforts to this end, going on to describe the expansive measures his government has taken for economic recovery in Japan. Brussels and Tokyo also reiterated the need to abide by all G20 commitments. Lastly, the European and Japanese leaders discussed regional peace and security issues, including eastern Asia, Syria and the Middle East, Mali and the Sahel. (EH/transl.fl)