EU, Japan Leaders Call for Trade Talks to Conclude in 2016

The European Union and Japan should aim to conclude their negotiations for a sweeping free trade deal this year, leaders from both sides said on Tuesday, following high-level meetings in Brussels. The 3 May leaders’ meeting, which brought together Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, comes three years into the bilateral talks. (See Bridges Weekly, 27 May 2013 ) The gathering also came just weeks before Japan is slated to host the next meeting of G-7 leaders , scheduled for 26-27 May in Ise-Shima, with the state of the global economy one of the key items on the docket. Both Juncker and Tusk will be there on the EU’s behalf. Highlighting the state of the global economy, Juncker stressed that inking a deal with the Asian trading giant would be a boon to ongoing recovery efforts. “We face a number of risks – including slower growth in emerging economies – and therefore we need to combine our forces to promote growth and investment,” said the Commission chief. “This is why our Free Trade Agreement with Japan is so important.” Expressing “confidence” that this can be reached by year’s end, Juncker...