Philstar Global - 10 May 2026
Next EU- Philippines FTA talks to tackle agriculture, procurement
By Adrian Kenneth Halili
The European Union (EU) and the Philippines will tackle chapters on agriculture and government procurement in the next round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks, according to EU Ambassador Massimo Santoro.
Santoro said the bloc remains hopeful the next round of FTA talks with the Philippines would be the final. The sixth round of discussions are scheduled on May 18 to 24 in Manila.
“One issue we are discussing a bit more deeply than others is government procurement. We have some topics related to the agricultural dimension, as each side wishes to have a text which protects the respective production,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the EU-ASEAN Sustainability Summit.
The diplomat said EU and Philippine products each specialize in goods that are not produced in the other, which could be beneficial for further trade.
He added that he remains optimistic both sides would be able to complete discussions before the year ends, if negotiations remain at a stable pace.
Santoro said that previous talks have been “very intense and very good in terms of results.”
“In case these rounds keep the same substance and the same speed and the same concreteness, like the previous one, I would not be surprised if this could be the last one,” he said.
The fifth round of discussions were held last March 6 in Brussels. Both sides have said that it seeks to wrap up FTA talks before the end of the year, after formal negotiations resumed in 2024.
“What counts is that we land with something good, something strong, something which is contributing to job creation also here in the Philippines, almost importantly, something good for attracting investments,” Santoro said.
The Philippines-EU FTA seeks to provide an open market access to goods from both sides, the agreement also replaces the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) which expires in 2027.
