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VARIOUS
civic groups are demanding full transparency and
multisectoral consultations for the proposed EU-Asean
free-trade agreement (FTA) as they seek to avoid a
repeat of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership
Agreement (Jpepa), the “horrors” of which, they said,
were only made public after it has already been
concluded by the Executive.
Joseph
Purugganan, campaigner of Focus on the Global South
EU-Asean FTA Network, said even the contents of the
supposedly noncontentious partnership cooperation
agreement (PCA)—which the EU is concluding one-by-one
with its Asean partners ahead of the FTA—are being kept
under secret.
Purugganan said they have asked the EU mission here and
the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) about the PCA,
but they did not get a clear response on its contents.
Asean
countries such as Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam have
already signed the PCA, and Purugganan said it is now
becoming apparent that the EU is using it as a requisite
before pushing through with the FTA.
But
since the PCA—which covers areas such as human rights
and sustainable development—appears to have
noncontentious issues, what is worrying them more now is
the progress in the EU-Asean FTA.
Based on
the 2007 document on the EU mandate for the FTA with
Asean, Purugganan said the Philippines appears to be on
the losing end anew of this regional agreement, which
seeks to erase the restrictions in the trade of goods
and services, aside from toying with the constitutional
limitations on foreign ownership and investments. “It is
becoming clear that the EU-Asean FTA is just like the
Jpepa,” Purugganan told the BusinessMirror at the
sidelines of the protest action they conducted in front
of the Dusit Hotel in Makati Wednesday. He said dealing
with EU is actually more dangerous because of its policy
of full reciprocity with its trading partners, even if
they are mere developing countries.
He cited
the case of Mexico, which became more dependent on
European exports after it signed an FTA with EU in 2001.
With
this, Purugganan said they are demanding that the
government start making public all the progress in the
negotiations and also involve the different stakeholders
through consultations.
He said
the Jpepa experience was a mistake because its contents
were only made public after it was signed by both
parties.
Purugganan said more than a year has passed since
negotiations for the EU-Asean FTA started, and still no
details of the progress are being reported to the
public. |
