The “legal scrubbing” of the economic partnership agreement between the EU and Japan, sealed on 8 December 2017 (see EUROPE 11922), is on track. The Commission hopes to present the text of the agreement to the Council of the EU and the European Parliament in the spring with a view to EU signature “in July”, ratification by the European Parliament “in the autumn”, and entry into force of the agreement in “early 2019”, confirmed Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström as she...