MANILA, Philippines – SINABI ni European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen na nais ng European Union (EU) na isapinal ang free trade talks sa Pilipinas upang sa gayon ay maani na nila ang benepisyo ng trade agreement.
“As soon as possible is basically the message. There are a lot of benefits waiting to be pushed forward so a free trade agreement is always very important as it says for trade, but it’s good for people, it’s good for cross border, it’s good for businesses,” ayon kay von der Leyen
Nauna rito, sinabi ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. na siya at ang EU official “concluded a successful and productive bilateral meeting” sa opisyal na pagbisita ni Der Leyen sa Pilipinas.
Kabilang sa mga naging paksa ay trabahuhin ang pagpapatuloy ng talakayan ukol sa bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
Matatandaang, nanawagan ang Pangulo sa pagpapatuloy ng FTA “as the timing and conditions are now quite ripe for us to solidify the long-standing and historically beneficial trade relations.”
Ang Exploratory talks sa panukalang FTA sa pagitan ng EU at Pilipinas ay nangyari noong 2013. Nagsimula naman ang formal negotiations noong May 2016, habang ang “second at huling round” ay idinaos noong Pebrero 2017.
“It’s high-time to do that. We asked our staff to work intensively and this is good news for both sides,” ayon kay Der Leyen.
Tinuran pa rin nito na ang “strong political will” mula sa magkabilang panig ay magiging kapaki-pakinabang sa usapan.
Ayon kay Der Leyen, isa sa mga usapin na dapat na i- settled sa panahon ng pag-uusap ay ang “alignment of standards.”
“We have high environmental and labor standards, for example, and there, negotiations have to go on because it is access for Filipino business to the European single market and of course for European companies access to the Philippine markets, so it’s important that we align the standards,” paliwanag ng Pangulo.
