Members states of the European Union gave a green light on Friday for the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, paving the way for the largest free trade agreement in the world. The deal is to be signed at the EU-Japan summit on July 11 in Brussels, while it is expected that the European Parliament will vote to approve it at some point this autumn. Finally, the deal is expected to come into force in early 2019, when both sides fulfil all procedural requirements.
"I'm very pleased that EU member states have now given their formal backing," Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström (pictured) said. "The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement is the biggest and most advanced bilateral agreement ever negotiated by the European Union. It creates a free trade zone covering 600 million people and a third of global GDP."
