Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU and Japan to protect world order through free trade

  • Japan and the EU "are tied deeply together by a mutual commitment to maintain an open, free and fair global trading system," EU Council chief Tusk (c) said, with Japan's Abe (l) and Commission chief Juncker (r). (Photo: Council of the EU)

EU and Japanese leaders committed on Tuesday (21 March) to conclude a trade deal "as soon as possible" in an effort to defend a world order disrupted by the new US administration.

"We remain united by our common values of liberal democracy and the rule of law as the core principles of the rules-based international order," European Council president Donald Tusk said before meeting Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in Brussels.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

He noted that Japan and the EU "are tied deeply together by [a] mutual commitment to maintain an open, free and fair global trading system".

Abe visited Brussels as part of a tour to meet European members of the G7, ahead of a planned summit of the rich nations' club at the end of May in Sicily. This will be the first of such summits to be attended by US president Donald Trump.

In response to Trump's support for Brexit and his questioning of Nato, the Japanese leader expressed his support for a "strong Europe" and for the EU's "cohesion of Europe as a whole, including on the security front".

He added that Japan, the EU, and the US should "work hand-in-hand to maintain and reinforce" the international order and "cooperate to show to the world the flag of free trade as a model".

The message comes three days after the G20, a broader forum of wealthy countries, at a finance ministers' meeting in Germany, dropped its pledge to fight protectionism under US pressure.

'Best of both worlds'

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said before the Abe meeting that negotiations were now in a "decisive and hopefully final stage".

He said that he expected a "comprehensive, ambitious and balanced deal" but noted that "there are few remaining issues but [that] they are the most difficult to solve."

Talks on the trade deal started in March 2013, but 17 rounds of negotiations have not yet led to a final agreement.

For the EU, a deal with Japan, the third largest world economy, is a priority to allay criticism of its trade policies and to compensate for the failure of talks for an agreement with the US.

"The agreement will give Japan and the European Union the best of both worlds," Juncker said.

"It opens up a major new market to each other by creating a level playing field and protecting our industries and work forces from unfair trading practices," he said, five months after a similar deal with Canada was criticised for threatening EU standards and workers' rights.

New talks in April

While EU officials hope to conclude the deal this year, the Japanese side prefers not to give deadlines.

"Shinzo Abe would like to achieve an agreement in principle at the earliest time as possible," a Japanese spokeswoman told a group of journalists after the meeting.

She said that during their 50-minute talks, the three leaders expressed their commitment to conclude a deal but did not delve into the blocking points.

According to EU sources, progress was made "across the board" in previous rounds of talks, but negotiations remain difficult in sectors such as market access for food and cars, services, public procurement, and intellectual property.

A new round of talks is planned for April in Tokyo to take stock of the negotiation with the aim of intensifying the process afterwards, according to an EU official.

US and Japan warn UK on EU trade

Washington and Tokyo say trade relations with the EU are more important to them than those with Britain in the context of Brexit.

MEPs approve Canada trade deal amid protest

Amid protests in front of the European Parliament's Strasbourg building and after heated debate among MEPs, the landmark trade deal with Canada was approved with a comfortable majority.

EU and Japan closing in on trade deal

[Updated] The EU and Japan edge closer to securing a free trade deal on Thursday, ahead of the G20 summit at the end of the week where US protectionism will be an issue.

EU and Japan agree on free trade

Japanese prime minister and EU leaders to endorse major trade deal on Thursday in anti-protectionist message to Trump.

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us