The Philippines and Europe: A precious partnership

By

Note: This is part of a series of essays on Duterte’s relationship with the supranational organization.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — After more than a year, I got the chance of once again meeting officials, bureaucrats and parliamentarians from theEuropean Union (EU). Not to mention, the chance to meet folks from our mission in Brussels and the EU.

Back in October last year, I had the chance to meet and exchange views with senior officials in the European Commission (EC) as well as key contacts in the European Parliament (EP), who provided a nuanced view of how they approach their relations with the Philippines.

Back then, I could already sense a brewing diplomatic crisis, as President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at the EU for supposedly interfering in our domestic affairs. The tough-talking President wasn’t too impressed by criticisms of his human rights record and, more specifically, the scorched-earth campaign against illegal drugs.

My first takeaway back then, however, was that there is a huge gap between the position of the EC, which is the executive-bureaucratic organ of the EU, on one hand, and the EP, which is composed of legislators directly elected by European citizens, on the other.

The officials from the EC came off as largely sober and subtle in their appreciation of the minutiae details of bilateral relations with the Philippines, mainly looking at things from a more long-term point of view. The EP, however, is composed of more activist and values-oriented legislators, who have strong views on the Philippines and the human rights situation in the country.

The two aren’t the same, and even within the EP there are various parties and factions of divergent ideological and political persuasions. In short, the EU isn’t monolithic, but instead composed of diverse voices and interlocking agencies with complementary functions. Thus, my major takeaway was that it’s important for our government and leaders, including President Duterte, to appreciate the complex nature of the EU institutions and not put all of them in one basket.

This time, my visit was based on an invitation by the EU delegation in Manila, which gathered a group of journalists and columnists to meet relevant contacts in Brussels in order to further familiarize us with the inner workings and, more crucially, the latest developments in Philippine-EU relations under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

Gladly, and much to my relief, it seems that bilateral relations with the EU are largely stable. But of course, there are multiple areas of concern.

First of all, it seems that the EU-Philippine Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations have been largely bogged down due to concerns over the direction of human rights in the Philippines.

The EU is particularly concerned over rule of law as well as regressive legislations such as proposed restoration of death penalty and reduction in age of criminal liability. For them, these development/prospects negate values that the regional body seeks to promote in its bilateral agreements with partner nations.

From their point of view, values (human rights) and interests (trade and investment) are intertwined. The two sides are also yet to agree on a new modality vis-à-vis the EU’s multi-hundred-million-dollars grants for development projects to the Philippines.

The Duterte administration has, in an unprecedented fashion, raised concerns over the human rightsrelated clauses in the bilateral development assistance agreements, insisting that this represents a form of interference in our domestic affairs.

The good news is: There is still time to address areas of disagreement and that the EU is simply seeking for institutionalized dialogue to address their concerns and find mutually-acceptable compromises.

If the EU can find a workable relationship with full-fledged autocracies such as China and Vietnam, there is no reason to believe that it can’t find a working modality with a democratic country like the Philippines, notwithstanding legitimate concerns over the country’s political direction.