During a meeting in Bonn on Friday 17 February, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida confirmed the commitment of the EU and Japan for swift conclusion of their negotiations (launched in 2013) for a free trade agreement.
"Negotiations are very advanced (...) tremendous progress has been registered over the last few months. As often in a negotiation, the few remaining issues are the most difficult to be solved, but I am confident that the distance between our respective positions can be bridged soon", Malmström said after the meeting.
She and Kishida had an exchange of views on some domestic reforms that Japan is undertaking and on the possible impact of these on the timetable for the negotiation process. They also talked about the international situation and the outlook for world trade, the European Commission states.
Both agreed that the negotiations should continue "without interruption", and they instructed their chief negotiators to work with this approach. The two parties also confirmed their commitment to concluding their talks for a strategic partnership agreement.
After the 17th round of free trade talks in September 2016, the technical level discussions continued without interruption, enabling significant progress (see EUROPE 11694).
European and Japanese negotiators must still find common ground on the market access pillar, seeking a fair balance between the EU's offensive interests and Japan's sensitivities on the agricultural sector, and between Japan's offensive interests and the EU's sensitivities on the industrial section, especially in the automobile sector.
As regards agriculture, the EU wants to obtain increased access to the Japanese market for EU exports of dairy products, beef, pig meat and wine.
With regard to the automobile sector, the EU is ready to open up its market as part of an agreement with appropriate solutions for non-tariff measures (see EUROPE 11692).
In addition, the EU wants increased market access to Japanese public procurement, the protection of EU geographical indications, and the inclusion of an ambitious chapter on sustainable development. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)