EU likely to keep PH’s GSP Plus privileges

The European Union (EU) will most likely keep the Philippines’ GSP Plus privileges with EU still believing in the overall democratic space of its trading partner, ignoring President Duterte’s repeated public diatribes for its criticism of the government’s human rights record due to the bloody war on drugs.

Phrases such as “We are still safe,” and “leaning backwards” and “compromise” carefully echoed at the corridors of the EU Commission, the policy-making body and the executive branch of the 28-EU member states.

The move of “leaning backwards” in favor of the Philippines is likely because the conditions for GSP Plus privileges do not include a criteria on human rights but, it hinges largely on the overall democratic space of the recipient country.

Thus, human rights has been enshrined in the universal declaration of EU’s so-called shared values. There is no criteria on extra-judicial killing, although this is linked in the overall picture of the universal declaration. This general condition also applies to all GSP Plus recipient countries.

Even EU ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen also raised hopes of the GSP Plus in favor of the Philippines.

The GSP Plus program grants more than 6,200 tariff lines from the Philippines duty-free access to the EU market. These products, including processed fruit and foodstuff, coconut oil, footwear, fish and textiles, can enter the EU market duty-free. EU is currently reviewing the GSP Plus and results are expected in early January next year.

The second review on the country’s status is expected to focus on three issues – labor rights, environment and EJK. Of these three, Jessen said the Philippines has improved on labor rights and environment.

“Labor rights is doing well,” he said while the country’s compliance with environment protection has been strengthened with the government’s ratification of the Paris Climate Treaty.

EJK, which the EU noted in the 2016 report during the Aquino administration, has remained a thorny one. But Jessen said that that the review results could be a “matter of degrees” only.

For instance, the labor situation has improved but the question is how much has it improved, the same as the issue of EJK.

Behind all these is the plight of Mindanao people that the EU’s development cooperation has tried to address. Several fish exporters come from Mindanao, benefitting much from the GSP Plus program.

Exports to EU grew 36 percent in the first half this year as the impact of the GSP+ is gaining momentum and is expected to further grow.

Full year utilization rate of the GSP+ in 2016 was 70.8 percent from 68.3 percent in 2015. But compared to the country’s overall exports, exports of products covered by the GSP+ still remain at $1.7 billion out of $6.6-billion total exports to EU.

EU has also an ongoing program in Mindanao, which is under the EU’s development cooperation, making it compelling for EU to continue and retain the country in the GSP Plus status.

But EU is also treading carefully because a compromise for the Philippines could be precedent setting. It could not risk other countries opening the general conditions that apply to all beneficiaries of the GSP Plus.

Working on the ambit of the EU shared values and moderation, EU does not want to “insult back” Duterte and cannot be drawn into an exchange of heated words

like what happened between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who have resorted to calling each other names.

The human rights issue against the Philippines was not even raised by the EU Commission, rather from the Philippines’ Department of Finance. Except for one official who went on record, the only nose from EU came from the EU Parliament, which is composed of more than 700 politicians elected by EU citizens.

The EU Parliament has very little role as to the GSP Plus whether it will be withdrawn or kept.

The EU Commission, the policy making body and executive branch, will have the final say on the EU GSP Plus.

It could be noted that while some would have discounted the power of the EU Parliament, the people’s representatives are already gaining more traction in EU, equal to the EU Council, which is composed of the leaders of each of the EU countries.

So far, there has not been much high-level official interaction between the Philippines and EU.

Thus, they put a big weight when EU Council President Donald Tusk was appointed by Duterte as his vicechairman at the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-EU relations in November this year.

There was no bilateral meeting between the two leaders during the summit.

It is not certain though if Duterte will come to Brussels for the ASEM (AsiaEurope) Summit in October next year.