The European Union extended until 2027 the Philippines’ inclusion in its list of countries enjoying trade privileges after seeing “progress” in human rights issues, EU President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
Von der Leyen announced the extension of the Philippines’ inclusion in Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) in her historic Manila visit which was the first for an EU president. She also said the European bloc decided to soon resume negotiations on free trade talks after agreeing to “accelerate” its cooperation with the country.
“We evaluated the situation, and we found that we can extend the status quo. That is good news… till 2027,” the EU president said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
GSP+ is a scheme that grants select countries zero-tariffs on exports to the EU.
The Philippines was initially at risk of renewing its GSP+ status, which was set to expire in December 2023, over the alleged lack of compliance with the GSP conventions set by the regional bloc.
EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore said during his April visit to Manila that while the Philippines already made progress in a number of areas covered by the conventions, more needed to be done to ensure effective implementation of all human rights conventions.
He said that three convictions out of the 6,000 alleged cases of extra-judicial killings in the country, which were among the human rights concerns of the EU, were “not enough” to ensure that the Philippines would continue enjoying the benefits of the GSP+.
Von der Leyen said, however, the European Commission saw “progress” in terms of the country’s response to human rights concerns.
“Well, the government now is much operating with the United Nations and other international organizations. This is very important, and therefore we see progress,” she said.
“We have also with the European Union an ongoing, constant human rights dialog where we raise all the specific questions that have to be raised, and here, too, we see progress and this made the difference with a new government,” she said.
The EU Parliament first warned the Philippines in 2020 of its possible withdrawal from the GSP+ amid cases of EJKs under the Duterte administration. It issued the warning again in 2022.
Before President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. headed for Belgium for the ASEAN-EU Summit in December 2022, he said he would ask the regional bloc to retain the zero tariff being enjoyed by the Philippines.