President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said he is banking on the support of Germany to fast track the completion of Manila’s ongoing negotiations for the country’s preferential trading with the European Union (EU).
“Germany’s support is vital to the country’s reapplication to the EU’s GSP+ (Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus) and for the resumption of negotiations for a Philippines-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA),” Marcos said in his remarks during the Philippine-German Business Forum organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday.
He said the matter would be tackled during the second session of the Philippines-Germany Joint Economic Commission (JEC) on March 27 of this year to be held in Manila.
During his joint news conference with Marcos last Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he supports the signing of such FTAs not only with the Philippines, but also with other members of Asean.
The country’s GSP+, which removed the import duties of over 6,000 Philippine goods in Europe, finally expired last year despite the pronouncement by the EU it is willing to extend the validity of the scheme until December 31, 2027.
Meanwhile, talks for EU FTA, which was supposed to eventually replace the EU GSP+, is still ongoing.
The DTI is targeting to complete the assessment on the resumption of negotiations of the EU FTA, which has been deferred since 2017, during the first quarter of the year.
According to data from the European Commission (EC), the total trade between Philippines and EU reached 18.4 billion euros in 2022 making it the regional bloc’s fourth largest trading partner during that period.