PH-EU FTA negotiations to resume; FTA to boost trade by EUR6 billion

THE Philippines and the European Union (EU) on Monday formally announced that they will resume the negotiations for the Philippines-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

This was announced by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual and European Commission (EC) executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis in a joint press briefing in Brussels, Belgium.

“The conditions are right to take our trade relations to the next level. Trade between the EU and the Philippines is already strong and has been growing at impressive pace over the past decade. But we can do more to realize the full potential of our trade relationship,” Dombrovskis said.

He said the FTA between the Philippines and the EU will increase bilateral trade to up to 6 billion euros.

Dombrovskis said bilateral trade in goods in 2022 reached 18.4 billion euros while trade in services was at 4.7 billion euros in 2021, making the EU the fourth largest trading partner for the Philippines.

EU is a rich source of foreign direct investments (FDIs) for the country, which amounted to 13.7 billion euros in 2021.

Formal talks on EU-PH free trade deal have been in hiatus since 2017 after the EU raised concerns on humanitarian issues in the Philippines.

The EC official acknowledged the progress made by the Philippine government, especially when President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. began his term, which include the war on drugs policies that is moving towards prevention and rehabilitation.

“Thanks to these positive developments that we are now in a position to get the trade talks rolling once again,” Dombrovskis added.

Moreover, Pascual said the Philippines aims to lock in the benefits of the current EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) and add more in the FTA.

He said the Philippines is pushing for the free trade deal with the EU for technology transfer and bring in more capital from EU companies to the Philippines, especially in mineral processing activities.

“We believe that technology and capital available from EU companies will enable us to achieve this value creation within our shores rather than us, exporting raw ores, and others making all the value out of our natural resource,” Pascual added.

EC President Ursula von der Leyen visited Manila from July 31 to Aug. 1, 2023 to announce the EU’s interest to resume FTA negotiations with the Philippines.

Following her visit, Philippine and EU officials undertook a comprehensive stocktaking exercises from September to December last year to map out the future of the trade relations between the two parties. /