Brussels (AFP)-l' European Union and the Japan, said Saturday that they had agreed to work on a free trade agreement billion $-euro, connecting the world's third largest economy with the largest market in the world.
A statement issued after a Summit in the EU Japan said the leaders "have agreed to start the process of" for "the negotiations for a comprehensive and detailed free trade agreement (FTA) and economic partnership agreement (EPA), addressing all issues of interest to both parties".
To this end, the two parties would begin talks "as soon as possible" to "define the scope and the level of ambition" in game, the joint statement said.
Concretely, this means Tokyo and Brussels will have to forge a list of address problems and objectives to be achieved until the EU 27 Member gives the official green light to launch FTA negotiations.
The process, known in the jargon EU as an "exercise in scope", is likely to take six to nine months, EU officials said after the talks between the Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Commission Japan European Chief Jose Manuel Barroso and block President Herman Van Rompuy.
The Declaration of the Summit identified the issues to be considered as including tariffs, non-tariff measures, services, investment, rights of intellectual property, competition and public procurement.
To speed up the launch of appropriate FTA negotiations, the Executive of the EU, the European Commission, will immediately begin a process to allow the talks "on the basis of a successful scope", added the statement.
Japan had long pressed the EU to use the Summit Saturday as the stage to announce an official launch of the FTA talks but Europe denies, requiring more than insurance fair rules of the game before taking this path.
Deficit of the EU with the Japan, it is the sixth largest trading partner, has declined over the last decade of EUR 47 billion in 2000 to $ 21 billion in 2010.
Nations European and business leaders complain of problems of access to market for the Japan foreign companies.
Europe complained on unjust treatment in government procurement, comparing a market of markets 312 - billion - euro (2.5% of the GDP of the European Union) open to Japanese companies in 2007, for a share of 22 billion dollars-euro (0.5% of GDP Japan) offered to EU companies.
Signature of the European Union of an FTA with Asian rival in southern Korea last year increased the insistance of Tokyo a deal to offset fears that the famous Japan of electronic and automotive products may lose competitive advantage.
Foreign Secretary William Hague Britain this month above praised the prospects of a golden pot. The removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers could deliver more than 40 billion euros ($60 billion) of the Japan extra European exports and more than 50 billion euros of additional exports of the Japan to the European Union, he said.
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