The EU and Japan are seeking to restart FTA negotiations this month, after end-of-year consultations last December led negotiators to conclude that the time was not ripe for the sealing of a deal that has been under negotiation since 2013. Among the various matters outstanding is public procurement. Since the very beginning, …
Japan
EU Japan FTA talks require “more work” – EU chief negotiator
The EU and Japan have been trying to conclude their free trade talks before the end of 2016, but the already not very realistic prospect of doing so has hit the wall of reality. “These negotiations are very close to a conclusion”, said Mauro Petriccione, the EU’s chief negotiator at …
EU Japan FTA: Japanese and European digital industries call for progress on data flows
The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association and the business association Digital Europe are pressing the EU Commission to accept inking a deal on data flows in the e-commerce chapter of the EU Japan free trade agreement currently under negotiation. The three year-old FTA talks are being revived as …
China, Japan week – and others
The Commission is working through its trade agreements amidst heavy headwinds. A ministerial meeting on the Environmental Goods Agreement in Geneva failed to deliver a deal this week-end. Whether other trade and investment projects will materialise is not clear…. Below, the key files to watch this week. …
EU Japan FTA gives signs of life
There is movement behind the scenes on the EU Japan FTA, under negotiation since 2013. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet is reportedly gearing up work on the final steps to finalise the talks – which have hinged on final auto and agriculture issues. Now that the Diet in Tokyo ratified the TPP …
Trump factor: Commission also sees opportunity to advance own trade agenda
Trade professionals in Brussels are shocked and depressed following the victory of trade-sceptic Donald Trump in the US elections. The flagship but fledgling transatlantic TTIP is seen as frozen, or dead, at least for the time being. But some also see opportunity in this dire situation. The Transpacific Partnership Agreement …
EU Japan FTA: Japanese music industry seeks more copyright protections
The Japan Council of Performers Rights and Performing Arts Organizations and the Recording Industry Association of Japan are lobbying for increased copyright protection in the EU Japan free trade agreement currently under negotiation. Trade Commissioner Malmström is trying to placate them. In a letter to the organizations early October (7 …
EU Japan FTA – window for conclusion seen in early 2017
EU and Japanese trade negotiators have spent a week in Brussels trying to make progress on the planned EU Japan free trade agreement. Political leaders on both sides have said they want to conclude negotiations in 2016. Though there are clearly stirrings in negotiations that had gone into a slumber in late 2015, there …
Top EU farm group calls for conclusion of CETA, TTIP, EU Japan FTA
The EU’s biggest farm group Copa Cogeca is getting nervous about the prospects of key proposed EU trade agreements: CETA, TTIP and the EU-Japan FTA. “We need to find more new export outlets so that we are not totally dependent on the Chinese market”, Martin Merrild, the president of Copa …
EU Japan FTA: business groups criticise slow pace of talks, textiles make proposals
Business groups are mobilising for the EU Japan agreement under negotiation since 2013 (updated on 21.09 16:18). The EU and Japan are preparing for a seventeenth round of trade negotiations late September. Though political leaders on both sides have called on the negotiators to conclude an agreement by the end of …
