THE Philippines and the 27-member bloc European Union (EU) moved a step closer toward forging a free trade agreement after they recently concluded the fourth round of negotiations.
‘We just finished our 4th round of PH EU FTA negotiations, and I can say it was a productive one. We made remarkable progress in the text based negotiations,’ Trade Undersecretary Allan B. Gepty told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message on Sunday.
Gepty also told this newspaper that both parties hope to iron out pending issues concerning the trade agreement before the year ends.
‘We hope to stabilize the text within the year. We also started market access negotiations for goods, services, and investments including discussions on modalities for government procurement,’ the Philippines’ chief negotiator said.
During the recently concluded negotiations, Gepty said these chapters were covered: Mutual Administrative Assistance on Customs Matters; Trade and Sustainable Development; Trade in Goods; Services and Investment; Digital Trade; Intellectual Property; Competition; Rules of Origin; Government Procurement; Tehnical Barriers to Trade; Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures; State Owned Enterprises; Trade Remedies; Energy and Raw Materials; Dispute Settlement; Exceptions; Initial Provisions; and Institutional Provisions.
The Philippines’ chief negotiator for the free trade deal with the EU pointed out that this FTA is expected to introduce chapters which were not present in the trade deals which the Philippines already entered into.
Gepty told this newspaper these are the new chapters: Anti-Fraud Clause, Mutual Administrative Assistance, Sustainable Food Systems, Government Procurement (rules and market access), and ‘comprehensive’ chapters on Good Regulatory Process and Trade and Sustainable Development.
On Sunday, a labor group expressed ‘grave concern’ over the government’s ‘rush’ to sign an FTA with the EU, saying this deal would ‘cost us far more than it claims to deliver.’
Unions for Trade Justice pointed out in a statement that this trade deal seems to be ‘intruding into vital areas such as government procurement, competition, investment policy, digital trade, and even minerals.’
The labor group also noted that these provisions would allow EU investors to ‘compete with our local industries unhampered by government regulation.’
Meanwhile, the labor group also said it is ‘alarmed’ by the digital trade provisions, saying these are ‘crafted to protect Big Tech, not our people.’
‘Data is the raw material of the digital economy, yet this FTA could hand control of it to foreign corporations and prevent us from regulating them. Even the USA has realized in its own trade talks in Indo Pacific Economic Framework [IPEF],’ the labor group said in its statement.
As such, the labor group stressed that rushing this trade deal is not about development, ‘it’s about giving away our economic sovereignty.’
‘If the deal threatens our ability to chart our own economic path, to protect workers, and to build industries that serve our people-then we must stop and rethink,’ added the Unions for Trade Justice.
At a recent forum, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) President Paolo Duarte underscored the importance of signing the FTA with the Philippines as the 27-member bloc aims to grow European investments in the Philippines.
‘When it comes to FDI investments, Europe is not top five. It’s our goal to bring Europe to the top five,’ Duarte said during the European-Philippines Business Dialogue.
The fourth round of negotiations for the FTA between Philippines and EU was held in Cebu in the past week.
Trade between the Philippines and the EU amounted to $15.54 billion in 2024, data from the Board of Investments (BOI) showed.
Of these, $8.07 billion are Philippine exports to EU while $7.46 billion are imports from the EU.