EU, Japan sign major free-trade deal

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Four years of talks between the European Union and Japan ended in a new free-trade deal signed on Thursday, the EU said.

"Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in the Strategic Partnership between the EU and Japan as we celebrate the agreement in principle of the Economic Partnership Agreement and the Strategic Partnership Agreement at political level," the EU said in a statement.

President of the European Council Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in Brussels for the 24th EU-Japan Summit.

"The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will constitute the basis for a strategic partnership for free and fair trade, against protectionism," the EU added.

Japan and the EU had been in negotiations since March 2013.

Currently almost 74,000 European firms export to Japan -- a G20 economy. Well over half a million people in Europe are employed by Japanese companies, according to EU data.

Europe exports €58-billion worth ($66 billion) of goods to Japan.

The leaders are also expected to attend a G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany starting on Friday.