The Philippines has achieved a record 80 percent utilization rate of the EU-Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Plus in 2024 with roughly 7,000 product lines from the Philippines under the program entered the EU market duty-free that year.
This was announced by EU Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro in a speech at the General Membership Meeting of the Makati Business Club on May 13, 2025.
Santoro noted that previous utilization rates by the Philippines were in the vicinity of 77,765 and 73 percent. “So it’s the record so far, 2024,” he said.
“We are very happy, of course, on the European side, when the Philippine side makes the best use of this system of preferences,” he added.
The ambassador expressed for higher utilization especially under the planned bilateral FTA between the EU and Philippines, as the comprehensive agreement is expected to grant zero tariff on all product lines, not just the current 7,000 lines covered under the EU-GSP Plus program.
DIGITAL CHAPTER
The Philippines-EU FTA is also including a chapter on digital, a new addition that is not yet part of its previous FTA deals with other countries. The addition of the Digital Chapter is in recognition of the growing importance and speed of impact of the digitalization globally.
Satoro cited the significance of having a chapter on digital especially for an archipelago country like the Philippines. Digitalization can play a fundamental role in helping speed up progress, especially in an economy where infrastructure development is a challenge.
He explained that digital is an important enabler where infrastructure is lacking. “Access to justice, access to public services, digital is fundamental. That is why we are thinking about having this digital chapter in this FTA,” he added.
ACCELERATE FTA NEGOTIATION
Both parties are already planning for a third round of negotiations in June this year in Brussels. The FTA negotiations only resumed in October 2024, as talks stalled in 2015 and 2017.
“We are definitely on track with the negotiations,” said the Ambassador adding that the EU Commission position for accelerating the talks fully reflectS the view of the EU as a whole.
The Ambassador said that both sides have expressed willingness to accelerate the pace of discussions to achieve an earlier conclusion of the comprehensive bilateral FTA.
“The free trade agreement negotiations cannot but become more important and cannot but continue at an even higher pace,” he said. While the pace of negotiations depends on the goodwill of both sides, Santoro said “It’s clear that in a context where the planet is now under this tariff-related issue, we cannot but multiply the occasions to reduce to zero these tariffs.”
He, however, stressed that good content cannot be sacrificed for speed.
The EU has developed the largest network of trade agreements with partners across the globe. It has FTAs in place with 76 countries in the world, covering 46 percent of the EU trade. “The European Union, with a market of 400 million consumers, is one of the most open economies and largest trading bloc globally, and is also the top foreign investor in the world,” he said.
In ASEAN, EU has existing FTAs with Singapore and Vietnam. It is also negotiating separate FTA deals with Thailand and Malaysia.
