EU and Japan to start trade deal talks The EU will launch negotiations with Japan on a trade agreement after member states brushed aside concerns from the automobile industry to give their assent. The deal, if concluded, would be the EU's most ambitious trade agreement, based on the size of the economies involved. It would also strengthen the EU's trade links with Asia. Lord Green, the UK trade minister, welcomed the start of negotiations saying that Thursday's decision was "the first big step towards liberalising trade between two of the world's largest economies. An EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement will bring major economic benefits to Europe. The EU's struggling carmakers - with support from France - had mounted a fierce campaign against the negotiations, arguing that it would lead Japanese competitors to dump excess capacity in a European market already facing a glut. EU officials acknowledged that the auto industry did not stand to benefit from the agreement, but that it would boost the EU overall, particularly service industries, the pharmaceutical sector and food and drink companies. The French were partly allayed by a special "safeguard clause" for sensitive products, including automobiles. ACEA, the EU automakers industry group, blasted the decision, pointing to a Deloitte study it commissioned which concluded that a Japan pact could result in as many as 73,000 lost jobs in the European sector by 2020. "Independent studies have shown that this deal is a one-way street as far as the automobile industry is concerned," said Ivan Hodac, ACEA's secretary-general. Some auto executives have questioned those figures. A key issue for the auto industry will be whether Japanese companies, such as Toyota, continue a trend of moving production to Europe or instead export vehicles from Japan. Japan won support for the pact by committing even before the launch of formal negotiations to remove a series of non-tariff barriers that have thwarted foreign competitors. "Japan has given all the assurances one can reasonably ask," an EU official said this week. Trade analysts have argued that a deal could provide a lift to two mature economies struggling to generate growth. Negotiations are expected to begin next year.