According to the European Commission, a trade deal with Japan could boost the EU's GDP by almost one per cent and EU exports to Japan could increase by one third. Therefore, the European Institution decided to ask the Member States for their agreement on opening negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with Japan.

The European Commission proposed to the Member States to open negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with Japan. Negotiating directives will be submitted to the Council which will have to give the Commission a mandate to start negotiating. Japan is the EU's second biggest trading partner in Asia, after China, and together the EU and Japan account for more than a third of world GDP. Recently, the importance of mutual learning between Japan and the European Union on employment  was also reaffirmed.

The Commission stressed that a free trade deal with Japan would boost Europe's economy by 0.8% and EU exports to Japan could increase by 32.7%, while Japanese exports to the EU would increase by 23.5%. 420,000 additional jobs in the EU are expected as a result of this agreement. In May 2012, the Commission has agreed with Japan on a very ambitious agenda for the future negotiations covering all EU market access priorities.

The negotiating directives foresee that Japanese non-tariff barriers will have to be eliminated in parallel to any tariff reductions on the EU side, and that the European Commission should suspend negotiations if progress as specified in the non-tariff barriers and railways and urban transport roadmaps does not materialise within one year from the start of the negotiations.