On Tuesday 27 February, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said she hoped for the signature of the EU-Japan economic partnership agreement by the summer, and then its ratification after the summer in order for it to enter into force in early 2019. The agreement was concluded in December 2017 (see EUROPE 11922).
"We are looking at the possibility of leaders signing the agreement by the summer. I don't have a date yet, but it will be announced very soon. Hopefully by this summer there will be a meeting of leaders where it can be signed. Before that, it will have to be adopted by the Council and then forwarded to the European Parliament for approval after the summer", Malmström said at the end of the EU trade ministers meeting in Sofia on Tuesday.
The text of the agreement is currently being legally scrubbed, then it will have to be translated into all the EU languages before being presented to the EU Council and European Parliament.
Discussions continue between the Commission and the Japanese administration on the chapter on investment protection, which is separate from the economic partnership agreement.
The EU wants to negotiate on the basis of the Investment Court System (ICS) for arbitrating in investment disputes. This system is promoted in the EU's agreements with Canada and Vietnam, as well as at multilateral level, but Japan wants an ISDS-type arbitration mechanism (see EUROPE 11946). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)