EU calls on Japan to compromise on free trade talks
Mainichi Japan | July 9, 2011
EU calls on Japan to compromise on free trade talks
BRUSSELS (Kyodo) — European Union President Herman Van Rompuy urged Japan on Friday to compromise in negotiations on a free trade agreement during a meeting with the leader of the country’s top business lobby, an official of the lobby said.
Van Rompuy told Hiromasa Yonekura, head of the Japan Business Federation, that Japan should budge on the issue of dropping nontariff barriers, the official said, quoting Yonekura as saying during the meeting, "I will tell the government when I’m back."
Van Rompuy was quoted as saying during the talks in Brussels that the European Union is prepared to start full-scale negotiations after holding preliminary talks. Japan and the European Union have already agreed to start preparatory talks on the matter.
Van Rompuy also said the European Union will closely watch how Japan deals with calls for matters including transparency and simplification in government-led procurement through ongoing working-level talks.
Yonekura’s trip to Europe has come at a time when Japanese businesses including automakers and home appliance makers have felt a sense of crisis after a free-trade pact between the European Union and South Korea took effect this month.
