Brussels, 07/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 3 June, the European Commission stated that the first round of free trade talks between the EU and the Philippines, which were held in Brussels from 23 to 27 May, enabled the groundwork to be laid for a future trade agreement between the two parties. The long-term goal is to seal a region-to-region agreement between the EU and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The Commission added that the ambition is to conclude an agreement that covers a broad range of issues - including tariffs, non-tariff barriers to trade, trade in services and investment, as well as trade aspects of public procurement, intellectual property, competition and sustainable development.
According to its progress report (available at: http://goo.gl.r1qteO ) published the same day, the first round of talks enabled discussions on trade in goods, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), services and investment, intellectual property rights (including geographical indications), competition, sustainable development, dispute settlement, and energy and raw materials.
The discussions on services and investment included sessions specifically dedicated to cross-border trade in services, the liberalisation of investments, the movement of persons for the provision of services (Mode 4 of the WTO's TRIPS agreement), regulatory framework, e-commerce, investment protection and investment dispute settlement, as well as on several services sectors (including delivery, financial, maritime and telecom services).
The groups in charge of the discussions on technical barriers to trade, customs and the facilitation of trade and public procurement did not meet during this first round of talks.
The EU's approach in these negotiations is based, for most areas of negotiation, on the free trade agreements it has already concluded with the first two countries of the ASEAN - Singapore in October 2014 (see EUROPE 11188) and Vietnam in December 2015 (see EUROPE 11444).
On 26 May, civil society organisations underlined their concerns about the impact of the future agreement on public health and access to medicines, labour rights and employment, the fishing and mining sectors, and human rights in the Philippines (see EUROPE 11559). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)