Japan and the EU are to conduct a one year review with the intention of concluding a free trade agreement. This proposed FTA will be an important part of plans to strengthen the economic relationship between the EU and Japan. The FTA is to deal with important trading issues including market access for goods and services, access for investments, issues surrounding procurement and other non-tariff trading issues.
Although the two sides are committed to a far reaching program of trade liberalization previous negotiations have given rise to fears among European car manufacturers that their access to the market in Japan could still be limited by non-tariff barriers.
Negotiations will aim to reach a conclusion in 2015 and finalize the trade deal. Benefits of the final agreement could be an increase of more than 32 percent in EU exports to Japan, and an increase of around 23.5 percent in Japanese exports to the EU.
