Japan should aim to reach a free-trade agreement with the European Union next year or risk undermining EU interest in a deal, the 28-nation bloc's chief negotiator warned.
Mauro Petriccione said an EU-Japan FTA could be struck within months after 2½ years of talks if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe commits to scrapping import duties on European foods and drinks, scaling back nontariff barriers for cars and opening up public procurement in the railway industry. In exchange, the EU is prepared to eliminate its tariff on autos from Japan and ease access to Europe for Japanese executives.
"For us, 2016 is very possible, it's very desirable from a European point of view," Petriccione told reporters on Thursday in Brussels. "If we don't make it in 2016, we'll have to explain why and we can't exclude a resurgence of the skepticism toward the possibility of an EU-Japan FTA that we had before we started."