WITH no major roadblocks seen, the free trade agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and the 27-member bloc European Union (EU) could be signed within three years, according to the EU-Asean Business Council (EU-ABC).
“So we’re probably looking at a two and a half to three-year timeline perhaps to get this deal over the line. That is already extremely rapid for an FTA negotiation,” Chris Humphrey, Executive Director of the EU-Asean Business Council (EU-ABC) said in a televised interview on Wednesday.
“The view is shared by the European chamber in the Philippines is that these talks could actually move pretty swiftly. We’re not seeing any major roadblocks that you might see in other countries in the region,” Humphrey said, highlighting that the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has agreed to move on sustainability issues and green economy issues.
Humphrey noted that Europe is “really keen to get this deal over the line.”
Last week, the European Commission (EC) on Monday night, EC Executive Vice President (EVP) Valdis Dombrovskis and Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual formally announced the resumption of FTA negotiations between the EU and the Philippines.
In a chance interview days after the announcement, Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual told reporters that the formal start for face-to-face negotiations could happen in the early part of the second half of the year.
Allan B. Gepty, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary for International Trade Policy Group (ITPG) earlier told this paper that the goal of the trade negotiating team is “to conclude negotiations the soonest possible time” as they have to factor in that the Philippines may soon reach the upper middle income status.
“Eventually, if this will be sustained consecutively for 3 years, then it will not qualify anymore under the EU GSP+. Hence, before this happens, we have to make sure that the FTA is already in place,” he told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message last week.
Humphrey said one reason why the talks would recommence is the “high level of alignment” in ambition between the 27-member bloc EU and the Philippines.
On why the timing is right for the two parties to resume talks for a free trade deal, the EU-Asean Business Council official said candidly that, “Europe is obviously a lot more comfortable with the Marcos administration than it was with his predecessor.”
Moreover, Humphrey said the supply chain disruptions brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia underscored the importance for the EU to de-risk or seek partners from different parts of the world.
“Europe itself…I think, spurred on by the Covid pandemic, then by the Russia Ukraine war, realized it needs to be closer to partners elsewhere in the world,” he said.
With this, the EU-ABC official explained that the bloc has started to bolster trade ties with Southeast Asian countries.
“Southeast Asia is a natural place to come to and if we look at the broader region, not only [have we] recommenced with the Philippines we have recommenced with Thailand, [there are] ongoing negotiations with Indonesia, digital trade agreement is on the cards with Singapore and [there’s] ongoing work at the region-to-region level,” Humphrey
pointed out.
“And the Philippines is seen as a country that was really to do a big deal with Europe,” he further noted.
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