Von der Leyen – Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr – Photo © European Union 2024
(BRUSSELS) – The EU and the Philippines are to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement, they announced Monday, with sustainability at the core of a ‘modern and balanced free trade agreement’.
An FTA with the Philippines, a booming economy of 115 million people in the heart of the strategically important Indo-Pacific region, is seen as a valuable addition to the EU’s network of trade deals. The Commission says it would include ambitious market access for goods, services, investment and government procurement; the removal of obstacles to digital trade and trade in energy and raw materials, thereby supporting the digital and green transitions; swift and effective sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) procedures; sustainable food systems (SFS); the protection of intellectual property rights including Geographical Indications (GIs) and robust and enforceable disciplines on trade and sustainable development (TSD) and would support high levels of protection for workers’ rights, the environment, and the achievement of ambitious climate goals.
The EU and the Philippines already have well-established trade relations:
- trade in goods worth over 18.4 billion in 2022, and trade in services worth 4.7 billion in 2021;
- the EU is the Philippines’ 4th largest trade partner;
- the Philippines, the 5th largest economy in the ASEAN region, is the EU’s 7th most important trading partner in the region;
- the Philippines is among the fastest growing emerging economies in the world, projected to see the 2nd highest economic growth in ASEAN with 5.9% GDP growth in 2024;
- the EU is one of the largest investors in the Philippines, with the EU’s foreign direct investment stock in the Philippines reaching 13.7 billion in 2021.
In addition to being a significant and growing economy, the Philippines also has major reserves of critical raw materials, including nickel, copper and chromite, which are vital for the manufacture of green technologies. Combined with the Philippines’ renewed efforts to harvest its renewable energy potential and recent liberalisation for foreign investors in the sector, the Philippines is an important partner in the green transition.
The EU and the Philippines now have to make technical preparations for the first round of the resumed negotiations – expected to take place later this year.
