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A EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement: Toward More Solid Economic Relations

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A EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement - Toward More Solid Economic Relations
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More recently, there are growing signs that their economic ties are actually weakening. But since the EU and Japan share a common set of values (as shown in their commitment to democracy, free-market economic systems, respect for human rights, and the rule of law), it is imperative that they reinforce their ties of cooperation on a range of global issues as well as pursue progress in their own mutual relationship.

In this context, Japan and the EU made efforts to gauge the prospects for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). Nevertheless, many challenges remain: For Japan, EU tariff rates are the key matter of concern while the EU deems it problematic that Japan still maintains a number of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade, and has insisted that negotiations on an FTA cannot even begin until Japan dismantles these barriers.

Even if further tariff reductions are not expected to have a major impact on the volume of trade between the two partners, a bilateral FTA could still benefit both Japanese and European economies through positive implications on productivity and innovation.

 

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978-2-36567-094-4

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A EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement: Toward More Solid Economic Relations

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Center for Asian Studies
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Asia is a nerve center for multiple global economic, political and security challenges. The Center for Asian Studies provides documented expertise and a platform for discussion on Asian issues to accompany decision makers and explain and contextualize developments in the region for the sake of a larger public dialogue.

The Center's research is organized along two major axes: relations between Asia's major powers and the rest of the world; and internal economic and social dynamics of Asian countries. The Center's research focuses primarily on China, Japan, India, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, but also covers Southeast Asia, the Korean peninsula and the Pacific Islands. 

The Centre for Asian Studies maintains close institutional links with counterpart research institutes in Europe and Asia, and its researchers regularly carry out fieldwork in the region.

The Center organizes closed-door roundtables, expert-level seminars and a number of public events, including an Annual Conference, that welcome experts from Asia, Europe and the United States. The work of Center’s researchers, as well as that of their partners, is regularly published in the Center’s electronic journal Asie.Visions.

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Date de publication
24 September 2025
Accroche

In September 2024, a relative outsider to Sri Lanka’s two-party-dominated political system, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, won the presidential elections. The anti-establishment, populist movement he represented, the National People’s Power (NPP), went on to receive an overwhelming mandate in the November 2024 general elections, winning 159 seats in a 225-member parliament.

Harindra B. DASSANAYAKE Rajni GAMAGE
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Japan Under Trump: Alliance Strains, the Push for Autonomy and Essential Partnerships

Date de publication
19 September 2025
Accroche

Japan is under pressure from the United States (US) on punitive tariffs and demands for increased defence spending. This has sparked deep concern over US credibility and triggered growing domestic calls for greater autonomy.

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Quest for Strategic Autonomy? Europe Grapples with the US - China Rivalry

Date de publication
26 June 2025
Accroche

Building on the 2020 European Think Tank Network on China (ETNC) report, which assessed Europe’s positioning amid the strategic rivalry between the United States and China, this edition re-examines the geopolitical landscape in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s return to the White House. This report features 22 national chapters and one dedicated to the EU, analysing the evolution of Europe’s relations with Washington and Beijing, the range of approaches to dealing the US-China rivalry and how these are expected to evolve. 

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Date de publication
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A EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement - Toward More Solid Economic Relations

A EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement: Toward More Solid Economic Relations