The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement

This agreement is a powerful signal to international community that two of the world's biggest economies reject protectionism.

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Freely inspired by “EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreementy" - European Commision

In december, the European Parliament has approved the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement.

The Strategic Partnership Agreement

The Strategic Partnership Agreement will boost dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and Japan on topics of mutual interest such as:

  • foreign and security policy;
  • connectivity and cyber issues;
  • climate change, environment, energy;
  • employment and social affairs as well as people-to-people exchanges.

The Economic Partnership Agreement

The agreement will become effective on 1 February 2019. It will create an open trading zone covering 635 million people and almost one third of the world’s total GDP.
In particular, the agreement will:

  • eliminate duties on many cheeses such as Gouda and Cheddar (which currently are taxed at nearly 30%) as well as on wine exports (currently at 15% on average);
  • allow the EU to substantially increase its beef exports, and open additional opportunities for export of pork products;
  • ensure the protection in Japan of more than 200 Geographical Indications (GIs), high-quality European traditional food specialities, and the protection of a selection of Japanese GIs in the EU;
  • remove tariffs on industrial products in sectors where the EU is very competitive, such as cosmetics, chemicals, textiles and clothing;
  • commit Japan to international car standards, with the result that EU exports of cars to Japan is made significantly easier;
  • open services markets, in particular for financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications and transport;
  • guarantee EU companies access to the large procurement markets of 54 large Japanese cities; remove obstacles to procurement in the economically important railway sector.