Japan, EU to join forces to seal free trade deal this year

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and presidents of the European Council and Commission, Donald Tusk and JeanClaude Juncker, respectively, agreed on Friday to join forces to seal the free trade agreement they have been negotiating since 2013 by the end of this year.

On the sidelines of the AsiaEurope Meeting, or ASEM summit, being held in the Mongolian capital on Friday and Saturday, Abe stressed that Japan and the European Union will work together to become the driving force of the global economy.

Speaking of the global economic uncertainty that has risen since the G7 Leaders’ summit in May, he cited the vote favoring UK’s exit from the EU in a recent referendum and the slowdown in emerging economies.

He said it is time to deepen JapanEU relations and claimed both sides have pledged their willingness to make significant efforts to reach a free trade agreement this year.

Tusk, in turn, said the result of the UK referendum “does not affect” the ongoing talks that began in 2013, adding that it will not have any bearing on agreements made during the recent G7 summit, when the two sides set up the target of sealing the deal by end of the current year.

“The arguments, and they are many, for an active and open trade policy have not changed,” he said.

Juncker too expressed his commitment to closing the pact within this time frame.

Abe’s words, however, are in contrast to the first reactions from members of his administration following the Brexit vote, including that of Japanese Economy and Trade Minister Motoo Hayashi, who said closing the deal this year seemed “difficult.”

Japan is the second largest trade partner of the 28member European bloc after China.