Third Round of EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement negotiations to open in Tokyo

EU News 425/2013

8 October 2013

Negotiators of the EU and Japan will meet in Tokyo from 9 October to 11 October for the third round of bilateral negotiations toward a Strategic Partnership Agreement. The EU side will be led by Mr Viorel Isticioaia-Budura, managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service, while the Japanese negotiating team will be headed by Mr Koichi Hasegawa, deputy director general of the European Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso agreed with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in March to launch these negotiations to strengthen the bilateral partnership, in parallel to negotiations toward a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement.

File Photo of Mr Viorel Isticioaia Budura by Y. Nagasaka 2012.01.31 (C)EU, 2012 URL

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