EU growing more open to negotiating FTA with Japan
Yomiuri Shimbun | (Oct. 25, 2010)
EU growing more open to negotiating FTA with Japan
Koya Ozeki / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
BRUSSELS—The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, is showing a forward-looking stance over signing a free trade agreement with Japan in a document on EU trade policy, scheduled to be adopted on Nov. 9, EU sources said.
Japanese business circles are enthusiastic over a Japan-EU FTA. But the commission’s document may mark a turning point in the EU’s attitude toward the FTA.
A draft of the document, which was drawn up by Karel De Gucht, commissioner for trade in the European Commission, presents the view that Japan is no longer poses an economic threat and should instead be seen as a partner bringing opportunity and economic benefits to the EU.
Agreements from the EU’s 27 member nations are necessary for it to sign off on an FTA with an outsider country, but the commission can propose to begin negotiations.
The commission’s previous reluctance over signing an FTA related to timing, and it said at the time the Japanese market was blocked to outside countries.
The draft, however, make the commission’s interest in signing off on a Japan-EU FTA clearer, saying Japan has been enthusiastically pursuing economic integration with its major trade partners, including the EU.
It also argues for Japan to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers that will prevent EU-made products from being exported to Japan as an important condition for closer economic integration.
Meanwhile, Japan hopes to quickly realize an economic partnership agreement including the FTA, and to obtain the EU’s consent for starting negotiations at a Japan-EU summit meeting to be held next spring.
The two sides began in July examining predicted hurdles to achieving an FTA.
However, while Japan has demanded that tariffs on products such as automobiles and home electric appliances be abolished, some EU member countries—for example, Germany and Italy, rivals in automobile production—remain cautious of a Japan-EU FTA.
The EU side is mainly interested in changes being made to the approval criteria for medical equipment and being able to participate in projects tendered by Japanese local governments.
This month, the EU officially signed an FTA with South Korea. If South Korean products enter the EU market without imposed tariffs, Japan will be at a disadvantage.
But some trade experts believe the settlement of the EU-South Korea agreement, which the EU had prioritized as part of its trade strategy, paves the way for negotiations with prospective partners.
