MANILA – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the Philippines and the European Union (EU) will schedule a discussion this year on the scope of the possible free trade agreement (FTA) between the two parties.
Pascual told trade reporters Monday that this statement was made by the EU during his visit to Brussels early this month where he met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convey the interest of the Philippines to pursue the EU-Philippines FTA.
“Ang word sa amin, i-schedule na ‘yong discussion. (The word is they [EU] would schedule the [scoping] discussion),” he said. “My expectation is that there will be scoping discussion within the year based on the way my counterparts have expressed.”
Pascual said he welcomes the renewed interest from the EU for a possible free trade deal with the country.
He said the timely resumption of talks for an EU-Philippines FTA is crucial as the country is expected to graduate from the EU Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) in the near term.
“Our expectation, by 2025, we will become an upper middle-income country. In which case, we will become ineligible to avail (of) the benefits under the GSP+,” Pascual said.
To avoid trade disruption between the two parties, he said, a free trade deal should be negotiated and concluded within the time frame.
Primary exports of the Philippines to the EU include crude coconut oil, tuna, pineapple, and other agricultural products.
In 2013, the EU and the Philippines launched exploratory talks for an FTA, with two negotiations done until 2017. FTA discussions between the two parties have been on hiatus for six years.
DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the scoping discussion would revolve around the “terms of reference” for the FTA negotiations.
Rodolfo, who led the initial scoping studies in 2015, said reviewing the scope for the EU-Philippines FTA is the right way to resume the free trade deal talks as there are “so many things (that) have already happened between the last negotiating round, and more so the last scoping.”
He added the previous scoping discussions did not include such industries as electric vehicles, critical minerals, and renewable energy, where the EU and the Philippines have a big interest. (PNA)
