The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and Japan will enter into force on 1 February 2019. The agreement was signed last July in Tokyo by Presidents Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and was approved by the European Parliament in December. Unlike CETA and TTIP, the EPA regulates matters of exclusive European competence and therefore does not require ratification by the parliaments of all EU member states.

The agreement involves more than 635 million European and Japanese citizens, linking two of the world's largest economies which, together, account for approximately one-third of global GDP.

Upon entry into force, approximately 90% of all customs duties will be immediately eliminated and, following a 15-year transitional period, 99% of them will be removed. The agreement will therefore abolish the majority of duties, worth €1 billion paid annually by EU companies exporting to Japan, and will result in the removal of a series of regulatory barriers, for example on motor vehicles. The agreement will also open the Japanese market, which has 127 million consumers, to key EU agricultural exports and will increase EU export opportunities in various other sectors.

The Economic Partnership Agreement will also strengthen cooperation between Europe and Japan in numerous sectors, reaffirm their shared commitment to sustainable development and, for the first time, include a specific commitment to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change.

According to Commission estimates, the agreement will create 180,000 jobs and increase exports by €13 billion.

Finally, the agreement also regulates the public procurement sector, providing for equal access to the Japanese procurement market. In the country's 48 largest cities, European companies will be treated the same as Japanese ones, as will be the case in the railway procurement market, which has hitherto been very closed to European firms.

At the following link, you can view a European Commission infographic summarising the main contents of the agreement: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/eu-japan-economic-partnership-agreement/eu-japan-in-your-town/italy_en.htm