The European Parliament ratified the EU Japan Economic Partnership. Outcome: 474 votes in favour, 152 votes against, 40 abstensions.
Japan
Last-minute: Plenary to vote on Japan data legislation adequacy this week
It looks as if MEPs are confident they can get the required majority to pass the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, the landmark trade deal concluded late last year between the EU and Japan, after all. The European Parliament today confirmed that a vote scheduled for Wednesday would go ahead — …
Social Democrat split casts shadow over EU-Japan EPA ratification
The European Parliament’s leaders sat down today to confirm that the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement and EU-Japan Economic Partnership were going to be put to MEPs for ratification next Wednesday in Strasbourg as planned. But persistent splits in the Socialists and Democrats group still cast a shadow over ratification.
Week ahead in EU trade: Asian FTAs, GSP, Section 232
G20 fallout December 2018 will be remembered as a decisive moment in European trade policy. Leaders came back to Europe from the G20 in Argentina over the week-end without securing a commitment by the big leaders to fight protectionism – although WTO reform is on the agenda of the world’s …
‘Horizontal safeguard regulation’ helps clear hurdle of Asian FTA ratification
It was meant to be largely a technical exercise. It turned out to be more political than expected. The European Union is about to adopt a new regulation on safeguards on imports that will apply equally to all its new bilateral free trade agreements. A final compromise among the three …
MEPs set EU-Japan EPA on track for December ratification
Members of the European Parliament’s international trade committee gave the green light today to the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. The landmark deal is expected to cover a third of global output and is among the most commercially ambitious trade accords in the world. It substantially liberalises trade in goods and …
Flash: Japan, Korea, Singapore, EU US updates
The long Asia-focused trade week in Brussels is finishing late on a Friday with a salvo of new announcements. Here a quick roundup. Juncker-Abe meeting During a bilateral meeting with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo is readying itself to ratify the recently signed EU …
MEPs wrangle over Japan EPA labour and environmental provisions
Insiders don’t believe the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement signed this summer faces a serious risk of being voted down in the European Parliament at the end of the year. But as the assembly enters its last months of functioning, a vocal group of left-of-centre MEPs is making a last big …
A Week in Brussels: INTA special, China, Australia
Below some highlights of this week’s trade committee meeting in Brussels, and a little update on the EU-Australia FTA talks. In case you missed them, check out our other articles this week on no-deal Brexit here and here, the EU’s food export bonanza, trilateral EU-Japan-US discussions on China and WTO, CETA, and the …
Japan, US, EU vow to table joint WTO reform proposals
A trilateral meeting among the trade chiefs of the United States, Japan and the EU held in New York committed the three World Trade Organization members to launch common initiatives to overhaul the Geneva-based institution. This trilateral format of meetings started with the aim to address common concerns on – …
