EU exports boosted thanks to stronger implementation and enforcement of trade deals and global rules.

On 27 October 2021, the European Commission released a report on the implementation and enforcement of EU trade agreements that offers a useful snapshot of the evolution of the EU’s preferential trade in 2020, looking at 37 main trade agreements with 67 partners. It is accompanied by a staff working document with detailed information per partner country and agreement, including the EPA with Japan. Effective implementation and enforcement of EU trade agreements and international trade rules have added €5.4 billion to EU exports in 2020.

Switzerland remained the EU’s top trading partner, with 21.5% of trade, followed by Turkey (11.3%), Japan (9.4%), Norway (7.8%) and South Korea (7.7%). Together, these five partners accounted for more than half of EU preferential trade (57.7%).

On page 25, the report includes the important work of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation for supporting the take-up of the EPA by SMEs, notably via its EPA helpdesk which is also mentioned under the "key facts" on page 8.

Source : European Commission