BRUSSELS: Leaders of the European Union and Japan on Saturday agreed to start talks towards a multi-billion-euro free trade deal linking the world's third biggest economy to the globe's largest market.
Long demanded by Tokyo, the decision to launch preliminary talks on a trade deal and explore a new binding political accord, was announced at a summit between EU leaders and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
"We still have a long way to go, but the objective is now clear," said EU president Herman Van Rompuy after talks in a history-packed castle nestling in parkland on the outskirts of Brussels.
"When two of the world's largest trading partners jointly confirm their intention to work towards a free trade agreement, that is a big step forward," he added.
A joint statement said it was "agreed to start the process for negotiations for a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA)" in parallel with "a binding agreement covering political, global and other sectoral cooperation."
The negotiations could start as early as next year depending on the success of a prior "scoping exercise", a to-do list of goals to ensure both sides share the same concerns and ambitions. Work on that is to begin immediately.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
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