The European Commission announced on 25 October 2024 that the initial negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and the Philippines were held in Brussels from 14 to 18 October 2024.
A follow-up round is set for February 2025 in the Philippines.
The recent discussions addressed sustainable food systems, digital trade, mutual administrative assistance, and dispute settlement.
In March 2024, the EU and the Philippines agreed to resume negotiations for an ambitious, modern, balanced free trade agreement (FTA) with sustainability at its core.
The EU is working towards building a framework of trade agreements with the members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This confirms the importance of the Indo-Pacific region for the EU’s trade agenda, paving the way for deeper trade ties with the Philippines.
The objective is for bilateral trade agreements with individual ASEAN countries to serve as building blocks towards a future region-to-region agreement between the EU and ASEAN.
Negotiations for an EU-Philippines trade and investment agreement were launched on 22 December 2015.
The second round of negotiations between the EU and the Philippines took place in February 2017, but the talks were then put on hold. In July 2023, the EU and the Philippines announced their intention to begin an extensive technical stocktaking exercise with a view to assess if conditions were right for potentially resuming negotiations for an FTA.
The EU and the Philippines announced the resumption of negotiations for the FTA in March 2024.
