Towards a Substantial EU-Japan Partnership
Journal: European Foreign Affairs Review
Year: 2017

The EU and Japan have spent decades normalizing trade links and attempting broader cooperation. In July 2017, political leaders agreed in principle to an economic partnership agreement (EPA) and to a strategic partnership agreement (SPA) hoping to enhance collaboration on economic, political, security and other issues, all buttressed by fundamental values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The agreements will likely be finalized and ratified this decade, so a more substantial partne