BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and Japan agreed on Wednesday to try to conclude talks on an ambitious free-trade deal next year that would encompass about a third of the global economy, despite European carmakers' scepticism about Tokyo's commitment.
An EU-Japan trade pact, potentially one of the world's biggest, would be part of an emerging patchwork of sophisticated accords between the world's richest countries as they search for growth following the worst financial crisis in a generation and the failure of global free-trade talks. "We confirmed the importance of an early conclusion and 2015 is the target date for a basic agreement," Abe told a joint news conference with European Council President Herman van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso after a summit at which they also discussed the Ukraine crisis.
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