Philippines-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

 

The exploratory FTA scoping meetings between PH and the EU started in 2013. It includes discussions on the objectives, key principles, and scope of the FTA negotiations. The scoping negotiations were concluded during a meeting between PH and EU Trade Ministers in Brussels on 2 October 2015. The launch of the FTA negotiations was subsequently announced by both sides on 11 December 2015. The 1st round of FTA negotiations was held on 23-27 May in Brussels, Belgium while the 2nd round of negotiations was held last 13-17 February 2017 in Cebu, Philippines.

Coverage

The following are the proposed chapters of the PH-EU FTA:

  • Trade in Goods
  • Rules of Origin
  • Customs and Trade Facilitation
  • Trade in Services
  • Investments
  • Government Procurement
  • Intellectual Property Rights
  • Competition
  • Trade and Sustainable Development
  • Legal and Institutional Issues

Rationale for Engaging EU

The European Union is the Philippines’ 5th largest trading partner in 2020. The country’s strategic objectives in engaging the EU in an FTA are as follows: (1) secure additional duty-free market access beyond those covered under the GSP+ scheme and on a permanent basis; (2) provide a conducive framework for attracting greater investments from the EU; and (3) be at par with other ASEAN member states who are aggressively pursuing FTAs with the EU.

Important Documents/Links

  1. About the European Union
  2. EU Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) 
  3. EU GSP+ Scheme
  4. PH as a beneficiary of the EU GSP+ Scheme

Related Data/Statistics

Source: EU TIR, EU Website

For more details, contact the Bureau of International Trade Relations-Bilateral Relations Division (BITR-BRD) at brd_eu@dti.gov.ph.