Japan to propose starting FTA talks with EU in spring+

TOKYO, Nov. 11 Kyodo -
Japan plans to propose to the European Union starting talks on a free trade
agreement next spring, government sources said Thursday.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will make an official proposal on the matter
when he meets with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Friday in
Seoul on the sidelines of a two-day meeting of Group of 20 leaders.
Tokyo hopes to strike a deal in order to boost the competitiveness of Japanese
companies after South Korea reached an FTA with the European Union last month,
the sources said.
South Korea's deal with the European Union, which will take effect next July,
has fueled concerns in Japan that its companies will become less competitive
than their South Korean rivals.
But even if Japan and the European Union agree to enter negotiations, the talks
would likely face some difficulties as the two sides still have many problems
to work out such as improving nontariff barriers and the treatment of
agricultural products, political observers said.
In a policy document on its trade strategy issued Tuesday, the European
Commission urged Japan to lower nontariff barriers as a condition for pursuing
economic partnership talks, while calling Japan one of its strategic partners
along with the United States, China and Russia.
In October, Kan told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso when
they met on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Brussels that Tokyo
wanted to reach an agreement at summit talks in the spring to start FTA
negotiations. Barroso showed a positive stance in response.
Tokyo has now apparently decided to move more quickly on the back of domestic
fear about the European Union's agreement with South Korea.
Kan has also judged that it would be expedient for his government to clearly
articulate its policy on entering negotiations with the European Union at this
point to take the lead in the two-day summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum starting Saturday in the Japanese port city of
Yokohama, the sources said. Japan is the chair of this year's APEC meetings.
==Kyodo