14.

Stresses that, for an FTA to be truly advantageous to the EU’s economy, the Council should establish a clear timetable and include the following aspects in the Commission’s negotiating directives: — Concrete and measurable results from the Japanese Government on NTBs with a view to eliminating the large majority of barriers hindering EU-Japan trade; underlines that these commitments should go considerably further than the roadmaps already agreed under the scoping exercise; the Commission shall regularly report on progress in this area to the Council and Parliament; — Eliminating existing NTBs in the automotive sector such as the ‘zoning regulations’, other anti-competitive restrictions and the treatment of electric and hybrid vehicles; the preferential treatment for ‘kei cars’ should also be addressed to ensure fair competition in this important sector; — Significant concessions on public procurement guaranteeing market access for European companies in strategic Japanese sectors including railways and urban transport and the same degree of openness as that of the EU’s public procurement markets; — A strict and effective dispute resolution mechanism requiring early consultations among the parties to combat the development of new NTBs and obstacles to market access in public procurement in Japan after the entry into force of the agreement; — A staggered schedule for sensitive tariff reductions in the EU to allow EU industry sufficient time to adapt to increased competition; considers that the removal of such tariffs should be inextricably linked via a ‘safety clause’ to the progress in removing obstacles to market access in public procurement and NTBs in Japan so that sensitive EU tariffs are not reduced without corresponding elimination of Japanese non-tariff barriers and obstacles to public procurement; — Effective bilateral safeguard measures to prevent a surge in imports that would cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury to EU and Japanese industry, especially in sensitive sectors such as the automotive and electronics industries; — The removal of a substantial number of the most problematic barriers that inhibit market access for European SMEs; — Reference to international health and plant health standards and disciplines, in particular those laid down by the Codex Alimentarius, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC); — Enforceable measures to protect Geographical Indications (GIs) for agricultural and foodstuff products, including wines and spirits; — In the light of the March 2011 disaster, a heavy emphasis on energy cooperation and enhanced market access in environmental goods and services; — A robust and ambitious sustainable development chapter with core labour standards, including the four ILO priority conventions for industrialised countries; this chapter should also include the establishment of a civil society forum that monitors and comments on its implementation and the effective implementation of multilateral agreements on the environment, animal welfare and the conservation of biological diversity; — Real market access opportunities for both sides in each others services market through the elimination of regulatory barriers particularly in investment, access to all tiers of government procurement and significant commitments on competition rules including addressing unfair advantages in the postal service sector; — The strengthening and extension of regulatory cooperation dialogues with binding disciplines to improve respect for international standards and regulatory harmonisation, in particular through the adoption and implementation of the standards set by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); — A comprehensive chapter on investment addressing both investment protection and market access;