Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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116. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he attended the recent EU-Japan trade agreement. [21362/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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On 22 March, the 21st EU-Japan Summit was postponed. This decision was taken due to the unfolding financial situation in Cyprus at the time. This required the presence of the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso and President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. It was decided, in agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that the Summit be rescheduled at the earliest possible opportunity. From 15-19 April the first round of negotiations took place in Brussels. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for 24-28 June in Tokyo. Japan is the EU's 7th largest trading partner globally and the EU’s 2nd biggest trading partner in Asia after China. Conversely, the European Union is Japan’s 3rd largest trading partner. The opening up of Japan to further European trade and investment is expected to generate considerable gains for Ireland and our EU partners. It is estimated that an EU-Japan FTA could increase the EU’s GDP by 0.8% and create more than 400,000 jobs for the EU economy.