Philippines, EU set to sign partnership and cooperation accord

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines and the European Union are set to sign a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) as the government indicated interest in engaging in serious negotiation for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Europe, according to a visiting European parliamentarian.

Werner Langen, chair of the EU Delegation for relations with the other countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said in a briefing on Thursday evening that the PCA will form a new basis for cooperation between the EU and the Philippines.

“We have a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which is ready and waiting. It’s waiting for the signature which EU High Representative Lady Catherine Ashton needs to provide and we do hope she soon will be able to sign the agreement,” Langen said through an interpreter.

EU Ambassador to the Philippines Alistair MacDonald said the EU and the Philippine side are working on the schedule for the PCA signing between Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Ashton.

“It’s just a question of synchronizing the schedule of the High Representative Lady Ashton and the Foreign Secretary to get the two of them in the same place at the same time,” MacDonald said.

He explained that the PCA is entered into by the EU and a country to set a legal basis for dialogue and cooperation.

The EU and the Philippines initialed in June in Brussels the text of a PCA becoming the first-ever bilateral and comprehensive agreement between the two parties.

The PCA was initialed in Brussels following the successful completion of negotiations on June 3. The formal signature of the agreement will follow.

The text was initialed by the two chief negotiators – Philippine Ambassador to the European Union Enrique Manalo and European Commission’s Asia Director James Moran. The ceremony was witnessed by EU member-states representatives in Brussels.

Ashton welcomed the initialing of the Agreement, and said that “the PCA is the first-ever bilateral and comprehensive agreement between the two parties.

She said the agreement will give a framework which is fit-for-purpose for the 21st century. It will strengthen considerably the dialogue, cooperation and action across the whole spectrum of EU-Philippine relations, specifically in the political domain, on trade and investment, justice and security, migration as well as on economic and development issues.

Ashton recalled that for the past 30 years, the relationship between the Philippines and the EU had been governed by the EEC-ASEAN Cooperation Agreement of 1980.

She noted that the Philippines is now the second ASEAN country to complete negotiations for a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU, following the signature of the PCA with Indonesia in November 2009.

Langen, who headed the delegation of European Parliament during a four-day visit to Manila, said Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo indicated that the Philippines is considering negotiation for an FTA with EU.

The delegation’s visit to the country is the first since the European Parliament election last year and since the Philippine elections held this year.

He noted that an FTA will also form excellent basis for future investments into the Philippines. –Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star)