* A look at the day ahead from European Economics and Politics Editor Mark John and EMEA markets editor Mike Dolan. The views expressed are their own.
LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - It has now been confirmed that Conservative lawmakers have put in enough letters of no-confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger a vote on her leadership. These are high stakes all round: for the hard Brexiters, it is one thing to reach the threshold of 48 no-confidence letters needed to launch the challenge; quite another to win round a majority of the party's 315 lawmakers to sack her. If they end up losing, they must be aware that hard Brexit would be likely off the table for good. A ballot will be held on Wednesday evening and an announcement made as soon as possible afterwards.
French police say five people are being questioned in relation to previous episodes linked to the suspect in Strasbourg Christmas market shootings, with the hunt for the gunman himself still underway. Authorities are due to bolster the protection of Christmas markets elsewhere and strengthen border controls. A terrorism motive has not been confirmed and it is not clear whether the suspect is still in France.
The European Parliament votes today on an EU-Japan free trade deal that will create the world's largest free trade area when it enters force in early 2019. Approval will bind two economies accounting for about a third of global gross domestic product and also signal their rejection of protectionism. The EU-Japan agreement will remove EU tariffs of 10 percent on Japanese cars and 3 percent for most car parts. It would also scrap Japanese duties of some 30 percent on EU cheese and 15 percent on wines and open access to public tenders in Japan. It will also open up services markets, in particular financial services, telecoms, e-commerce and transport.
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