6 July 2017, 06:06 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The European Union's trade deal with Japan, agreed to in principle earlier in the day, is expected to enter into force in early 2019, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday.
"Our aim is to have this entering into force taking place in early 2019," Juncker told reporters at the conclusion of the EU-Japan summit briefing in Brussels.
The European Council announced "an agreement in principle of the Economic Partnership Agreement and the Strategic Partnership Agreement at political level" on Thursday.
"We have described how much our teams will have to work together in the next coming months to finalize the agreement. I don't expect any kind of difficulties in that respect, but we need some more time," Juncker said.
