The European Union and Japan signed the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), a free trade deal which eliminates 99% of the tariffs between the two sides, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Tuesday. The two sides also agreed to include an agreement on reciprocal data adequacy in the deal.
Tusk noted the EPA is the "largest bilateral trade deal ever" and added its signing sends a "clear message against protectionism." The EU Council president said the two sides support the "rules-based international order and free trade," which he stressed was of utter importance at a time when certain entities, referring to the US, are "questioning" these values. Abe noted he expects the EPA to boost Japan's GDP by 1% and increase the number of jobs in the country by 290,000.
The EPA was struck in 2017 after four years of negotiations and approved by the EU member states earlier in July. The two sides hope the deal will come into force before the United Kingdom's exit from the EU in March 2019. On Monday, the EU agreed with China to work together to protect free trade and multilateralism.
