Getting from a Principled Agreement on an EU-Japan Economic Partnership to a Definitive Text - How to Deal with Ambiguities within the European Common Market

In the summer of 2017, EU and Japan reached a political agreement on a Japan Europe Economic Partnership Agreement (JEEPA). Besides slashing tariffs on cheese and cars; JEEPA is both the culmination of over ten high-level negotiation rounds, and a clear message to more protectionist voices within the current global arena. However, before said political agreement in principle results in a definitive text which can be submitted for ratification, a series of pending questions need to be resolved. Interestingly, said remaining issues differ from the major stumbling blocks that have characterised most of the negotiation rounds. In this respect, these last-ditched issues reflect shifting priorities rather than longstanding differences. Over the second half of 2017, as the parties worked towards finalizing the agreement the main chapters where technical details still needed to be ironed out were those related to the digital market (a field not even explicitly included in the EU’s initial negotiating directives), while other chapters still remained outside the scope of the summer's agreement in principle, most notably investment protection. In either of these fields, as the EU seeks to secure an agreement it must juggle changing domestic agendas - i.e. a still incomplete Digital Union and a shifting political stance on investment dispute settlements (IDS). By process tracing the JEEPA negotiations with regards to each of these two specific topics, the paper will offer new insights into the EU’s capacity to remain in control of the negotiations despite external pressures and internal ambiguities.