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Marcos: Time to resume talks for bilateral free trade agreement between PH, EU

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Agence France-Presse and ABS-CBN News " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/05/25/20230525-bbm.jpg"/><figcaption><em>Agence France-Presse and ABS-CBN News </em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Thursday said it was time to resume talks for a bilateral free trade agreement between the Philippines and the European Union (EU), describing it as a &quot;win-win strategy.&quot; </p><p>Marcos called on the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) which could help in resuming the negotiations. </p><p>The EU-Philippine free trade talks began in late 2015. Negotiations on this stalled in February 2017 under then-President Rodrigo Duterte. </p><p>&quot;A bilateral [free trade agreement] will be a win-win strategy for both the Philippines and EU. It promises to achieve mutually-beneficial economic goals while maintaining consistency with EU&#x27;s core ideals of sustainable development and environment protection, as well as with EU&#x27;s Indo-Pacific strategy,&quot; Marcos said in his speech.</p><p>The two business entities, Marcos said, can &quot;move this forward all the way to a favorable conclusion.&quot; </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/01/23/philippines-eu-eye-closer-economic-security-ties">Philippines, EU eye closer economic, security ties</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/14/22/marcos-eyes-boosting-asean-eu-trade-investment">Marcos seeks strengthening of trade and investment between ASEAN, EU</a></li></ul><p>&quot;With this conducive business atmosphere that we are fostering, I believe we can all agree that timing and conditions are now quite ripe for us to solidify the longstanding and historically-beneficial trade relations through a bilateral-Philippine-EU free trade agreement,&quot; he added. </p><p>&quot;If and when it happens, it can be the capstone to strengthen EU-Philippine relations over the course of the next decades. Join me as I greet you all once again... and express my gratitude for interest that you continue to show in the Philippines.&quot;</p><p>He also cited the country&#x27;s recovering economy and its shift to renewables, which can help pave the way for trade and investments with the economic union. </p><p>This shift, he said, was part of the enabling environment that might prepare the country for its compliance of international obligations determined by the EU. </p><p>It will also assure the Philippines&#x27; continued participation in the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) scheme, which he said could help small businesses and the country&#x27;s export market in the EU. </p><p>&quot;This will also encourage further foreign investments in our manufacturing sector,&quot; said Marcos.</p><p>A GSP+ status allows the Philippines to export to the EU without duties or with reduced tariffs. The preferential GSP+ status was given to the Philippines in 2012. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/16/22/eu-open-to-pursuing-free-trade-deal-gsp-discussions-with-philippines-ops">EU open to pursuing free trade deal, GSP+ discussions with Philippines: OPS</a></li></ul><p>The trade agreement provides over 6,000 tariff lines &quot;at zero duty upon entry into the EU,&quot; the Bureau of Customs said but access to the preferential trade scheme expires at the end of the year. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2628908" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The EU-Philippine free trade talks began in late 2015. Negotiations on this stalled in February 2017 under then-President Rodrigo Duterte. 

Marcos: Time to resume talks for bilateral free trade agreement between PH, EU

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Marcos: Time to resume talks for bilateral free trade agreement between PH, EU

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 25, 2023 11:22 PM PHT

Read More:

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr

EU-ASEAN Business Council

Jens Ruebbert

free trade

European Union

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