Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Monday that Japan and Europe should work together with the United States to promote fr
HANOVER, GERMANY – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Monday that Japan and Europe should work together with the United States to promote free trade.
“At a time when a protectionist movement is growing in the world, Japan and Europe must cooperate with the United States to continue to fly the flag of free trade,” Abe said at a joint press conference after their talks in Hanover.
Abe said he and Merkel agreed to continue to work in coordination toward a broad conclusion of free trade negotiations underway between Japan and the European Union.
“The negotiations on the EPA between Japan and the European Union are very advanced and are coming to the final stage,” Merkel said at the press conference, referring to the ongoing talks for the economic partnership agreement.
The leaders’ meeting fell on the same day British Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said she will formally notify the European Union on March 29 of Britain’s intention to exit the bloc.
“(The European Union) will have to address the challenge of how we should unite,” Merkel said.
Abe and Merkel are scheduled to meet again at the leaders’ summits of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Italy in May and the Group of 20 in Germany in July.
Merkel said she and Abe had an “extremely good discussion” about U. S. President Donald Trump. She is fresh from a summit with the U.
