Philippine-EU free trade negotiations lined up

Negotiators from the Philippines and the European Union (EU) are expected to hold at least three rounds of negotiation next year for their planned free trade agreement (FTA) that will boost trade by as much as an additional €6 billion (around P363.8 billion) annually.

The Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) said that Philippine Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty had communicated the schedule during a recent trade policy forum: February, June and October 2025, with the target date of completing the deliberations by 2026.

The proposed topics to be discussed under the FTA are trade in goods, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and services and investment.

Also covered are digital trade; government procurement; intellectual property; competition, subsidies and state-owned enterprises; micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; energy and raw materials; trade and sustainable development; sustainable food systems; transparency and good regulatory practices; dispute settlement; initial, general, final and institutional provisions; and exceptions.

Earlier in March, then Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual and European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis announced the resumption of the formal negotiations for the free trade agreement while in Brussels, Belgium.

Within Pres. Marcos’ term

According to the European official, trade in goods between the Philippines and the European Union was worth over 18.4 billion euros (around P1.2 trillion) in 2022, a number which he said can grow by an additional €6 billion (around P363.8 billion) yearly with the FTA deal.

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Chris Humphrey, executive director of Singapore-based EU-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business Council, said he anticipated the parties to finish talks within the term of President Marcos.

“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,” Humphrey said in a televised interview in the same month of the announcement.