EU-handelsministers willen onderhandelingen met Japan (en)

The negotiating mandate for an EU - Japan Free Trade Agreement was adopted at today’s Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) meeting in Brussels, which was chaired by Cyprus’ Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Mr. Neoklis Sylikiotis.

A potential Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Japan could be of enormous importance to the EU’s economy, with the European Commission estimating that it could lead to an increase of the EU’s GDP by around €43 billion.

As pointed out by Mr. Sylikiotis, “we have fulfilled the mandate from the European Council to move forward with Japan. Above all, we are opening the way for EU business to reap wide-ranging benefits from this arrangement further down the road; benefits which will be an important external driver of the European growth agenda”.

Trade Agreements with Canada, Singapore and South Mediterranean countries

The FAC (Trade) also examined the progress of negotiations with other strategic partners for the EU. In particular, ministers laid the foundatios for a swift conclusion of the negotiations dating back to 2009, concerning an EU - Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement,. The Agreement is expected to increase the EU’s annual income by €11.6 billion.

Additionally, the progress made in the negotiations for an EU - Singapore Free Trade Agreement was discussed, with a view of achieving their finalisation within 2012.

“A timely conclusion of these negotiations would send a strong signal of the EU’s continued engagement with the Asian-Pacific region and also confirm that the path chosen in the EU’s approach to negotiations with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) partners is the right one,” said Mr Sylikiotis.

Finally, regarding the ongoing process for Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas with the South Mediterranean countries, the EU’s Trade Ministers welcomed the launch of negotiations with Morocco and reviewed the progress achieved with Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia.

Reviewing important proposed Regulations

During the meeting, ministers also reviewed the state of play of the proposed Regulation on financial responsibility for investor-state dispute settlement, as well as of the Omnibus I and II Regulations, which aim to align the decision-making procedures for a wide range of regulations to the changes brought about by the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.

At the working lunch, ministers discussed the EU - China trade and investment relations, as well as the current developments in EU - Russia trade relations, particularly after Russia’s recent accession to the World Trade Organisation.