The EU, Japan, and TPP – Navigating the Negotiations

The EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement negotiations were officially launched in March 2013. Since then, 13 rounds of negotiations have followed, however, the process received a fresh dose of momentum at the 23rd EU-Japan Summit in mid-2015. Leaders from Japan and the EU were vocal about their desire to finalise talks, so long as the scope of the Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement meets the ambitions of both parties sufficiently.

Japan and the EU have a longstanding history of economic and trade ties. A conclusion to these negotiations would be a stepping stone toward consolidating the role of both the EU and Japan as major global economic players – together, they account for more than a third of the world’s GDP. However, the EU isn’t the only entity working to secure Japan’s signature in a landmark agreement. While the EU and Japan carry out talks, the latter is also involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the economic impact of which we examined in our recent study, “The trans-Pacific Partnership Deal (TPP): What are the economic consequences for in- and outsiders?”. As a clear outsider in this discussion, the EU can only look on and wonder how the TPP will affect its own negotiations progress, as both the EU and Japan move into a new era of trade growth and economic cooperation.

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