Brussels, 11/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - The free-trade talks between the EU and Japan, which were launched in June 2013, are still on track. On Friday 11 July, European and Japanese negotiators completed their sixth round of technical discussions - a round that was held in Tokyo this week (7-11 July).
“This sixth round marked the beginning of a second phase in the negotiations, following the 'one-year-on' progress review by the EU”, the European Commission stated on Friday. Provided for in the EU negotiation mandate, the examination after a year of the implementation of Japanese commitments on lifting non-tariff barriers, could have led to the suspension of the talks if the European side deemed this progress to be insufficient. “Despite some concerns, the extensive discussions held in May this year between the Commission and member states confirmed that the negotiations should continue”, the Commission stated.
“This week the EU and Japan made further significant efforts, discussing a range of issues and showing a high level of ambition across all the areas of negotiations”, said the Commission. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for October, in Brussels. (EH)