EU Promotes FTA With Philippines

There has been a further confirmation from the European Union (EU) that it is ready to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Philippines.

The new EU Ambassador to the Philippines, Guy Ledoux, has said that the next move lay with the Philippines’ government if it wanted to begin serious talks to conclude an FTA, but that, to date, it had not signalled its intention. In fact, while negotiations on a EU-Philippines partnership and cooperation agreement, which was due to be the precursor of an FTA, were concluded in June last year, it has yet to be signed.

The lack of action by the Philippines’ government is surprising in that, while it is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and therefore a participant in ASEAN’s existing FTAs with, for example, China, India, South Korea, and Australia and New Zealand, its Trade and Industry Secretary, Gregory Domingo, had said, in July last year, that the government believed it should enter into as many FTA negotiations as became available.

The EU had, until they were suspended in 2009, pursued talks on a region-to-region FTA with ASEAN. The EU then, instead, decided to pursue negotiations for FTAs with the individual ten countries within ASEAN. Talks with Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia are already at various stages of development.

The previous EU Ambassador to the Philippines, Alistair MacDonald, had already given a warning in October last year that the EU might not be able to accommodate the Philippines if it continues to drag its feet over pursuing an FTA.

Feb 28^th, 2011

Source: tax-news.com