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Trade

EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement

Country or region
Japan
Trade topics
Negotiations and agreements

The EU and Japan's Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2019.

EU firms already export nearly €70bn in goods and €28bn in services to Japan every year.

In the past European firms faced trade barriers when exporting to Japan, which sometimes made it hard for them to compete.

The trade agreement with Japan:

  • removes tariffs and other trade barriers and creates a platform to cooperate in order to prevent obstacles to trade; and
  • helps us shape global trade rules in line with our high standards and shared values, and;
  • sends a powerful signal that two of the world's biggest economies reject protectionism.

On 28 October 2023, the EU and Japan concluded an agreement on cross-border data flows. Once ratified, the agreed provisions will be included in the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.

More information:

About the agreement

Committees and Dialogues

The EU and Japan meet regularly to discuss issues and best practices when applying the agreement.

Documents

Negotiation round reports, Textual proposals, Impact Assessments

Negotiation process

Negotiating reports, impact assessments, meetings with EU Member States, the European Parliament, and civil society

Information for businesses

EU-Japan Trade in your town box

More on Trade relations

Japan

EU trade relations with Japan.

Exporters' information

Exporting from the EU, importing into the EU — all you need to know is on the Access2Markets portal

Latest news

  • News article

Landmark EU-Japan data deal one step closer to ratification

The landmark deal on cross-border data flows between the EU and Japan has taken a further important step towards ratification. Today, the European Commission sent the outcome of the negotiations to the Council for authorising its signature.