AFTER nearly a decade of on-and-off negotiations, the Philippines and the European Union (EU) have reached a substantial agreement on a free trade pact that is set to become the country’s biggest and most comprehensive trade deal.
According to the European Commission on Tuesday, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefcovic and Philippine Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque confirmed the agreement following a video call, with both sides instructing their negotiating teams to finalize the text as soon as possible.
For her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on Monday with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., saying the two sides had agreed on an EU-Philippines free trade deal.
The agreement will still have to go through the formal steps toward conclusion, signature and ratification before it can take effect.
Once implemented, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would give Philippine exporters permanent preferential access to the EU market, which has nearly 450 million consumers.
It would also replace the Philippines’ current preferential access under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), which provides tariff preferences on two-thirds of EU tariff lines.
The deal follows nearly a decade of negotiations. The talks were launched in December 2015 before being put on hold after the second round in 2017. The two sides resumed negotiations in March 2024, followed by six negotiating rounds through May 2026.
The European Commission said the agreement is expected to create new opportunities for businesses, including micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as farmers, manufacturers and consumers on both sides.
It also said the FTA is intended to strengthen and diversify supply chains and provide more predictable rules for businesses, at a time when supply-chain resilience has become a priority.
‘The agreement also sends a clear signal of reinforced engagement between the EU and the Philippines, anchored in their common interest in an open, inclusive, and rules-based international order in the current volatile context,’ the commission said.
The EU was the Philippines’ fourth-largest trading partner in 2025, with bilateral trade in goods reaching pound 17.6 billion, while two-way trade in services amounted to pound 10.3 billion in 2024, according to EU data. The bloc accounted for 8.3 percent of the Philippines’ total goods trade last year.
Broader Asean
THE agreement also comes as European businesses look at the Philippines’ role within wider Southeast Asian supply chains.
The EU-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business Council said the country now has an opportunity to strengthen its position as a destination for European investment and as part of regional value chains.
In its latest business sentiment survey, 43 percent of European business leaders said they plan to expand in the Philippines over the next five years, according to the council.
EU-ASEAN Business Council Executive Director Chris Humphrey said the challenge now is to translate the agreement into a more competitive operating environment that allows companies to invest, produce and integrate the Philippines into regional supply chains.
He also urged the EU to move forward with its FTA negotiations with Thailand and Malaysia, while noting that European businesses continue to push for a broader EU-ASEAN trade agreement.
‘Bilateral agreements should not be the end point,’ Humphrey said, adding that European businesses have consistently called for a region-to-region FTA.
With the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-EU relations approaching in 2027, he said concluding more bilateral agreements would reinforce the EU’s economic engagement with Southeast Asia while potentially laying the groundwork for a broader regional trade framework.