The European Union and Japan will seek a broad agreement on a bilateral free trade deal next year, EU chief negotiator Mauro Petriccione said Saturday, setting a new deadline partly due to dairy sector tariff issues.

"We will need to continue working in the next few weeks in order to bridge the remaining distance and reach an agreement in principle, with the right balance, as early as possible at the beginning of next year," Petriccione said at a news conference in Tokyo.

Both sides were aiming to broadly agree on the bilateral free trade deal by year-end.