President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will raise the status of the Philippines’ European Union (EU) Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) in his meetings with EU leaders as he arrived in Belgium on Monday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-European Union (EU) Commemorative Summit from Dec. 12 to 14.
“We’ll bring it up with the EU. I don’t think one thing should be related to the other but we’ll see,” he told reporters onboard a flight to Brussels, noting he will be meeting with EU leaders on the sidelines of the event.
Mr. Marcos and his delegation will be meeting concerned officials of the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament to discuss the country’s EU GSP+ privileges.
Last February, the country’s GSP+ status faced hurdles following threats from the EU Parliament to temporarily hold trade privileges for the country amid allegations of human rights abuses and lack of press freedom.
In October, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the Philippines will seek to renew its participation in the EU GSP+ and will continue to pursue a free trade agreement (FTA) with the trade bloc.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the Philippines has undergone “significant” developments such as a change in government leadership, a shift to a preventive and rehabilitative approach to illegal drugs, and a new commitment to work against climate change.
Last month, EU Ambassador Luc Veron said the EU remains interested in an FTA with the Philippines, but the EU has to assess the prospect of resuming the negotiations.
“We look forward to movements by the Philippines implementing its commitments in the GSP+ convention. It is clear that it will make it easier for the EU and the Philippines further assess the prospect of a resumption of the negotiations,” Veron said.
The two parties started exploratory talks for a bilateral free trade pact in 2013.
The negotiations for the EU-Philippines FTA started in 2016. The last round of negotiation was held in Cebu City in 2017. Since then, negotiations have been on hiatus.
Under the EU GSP+, the Philippines enjoys a free tariff for 6,274 products entering the EU market.
In return, the Philippines has to adhere to the 27 international conventions on human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, and good governance to continue enjoying the trade perks.
The Philippines’ participation in the GSP+ will expire in December 2023.
Mr. Marcos also assured that the national government will do “everything” to address deficiencies in local seafarer training and education to prevent job losses among Filipino seafarers deployed to work for EU vessels.
He assured that his administration will enhance its efforts to comply with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) standards after the EU flagged the Philippines for deficiencies in local seafarer training and education earlier this year.
“I think that we will [be] going to do everything that we can. We cannot leave it hanging like this,” he said.