Senate to ratify Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation with EU

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is set to ratify the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the Philippines and European Union (EU) after the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and other similar pacts were approved by the foreign relations committee.

Sen. Loren Legarda said other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation have already ratified or are in the process of ratifying their respective PCA with the EU.

Legarda said the PCA would serve as a general framework of relations between the Philippines and the EU and would allow better cooperation between the two parties on political, economic and development issues.

“We are currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the EU which will be linked to the PCA. Through the FTA, we will be able to further unlock our trade and economic potential by providing our products with wider access to the markets of the member states of the European Union, thereby ensuring benefits for small and medium enterprises,” Legarda said.

Legarda said the country would benefit from the PCA through customs and trade facilitation, which would provide technical assistance and exchange of experts between the Philippines and EU customs administrations; cooperation in combatting illicit drugs through strengthened information and information exchange, drug-related research, drug profiling and prevention of manufacture of dangerous drugs and diversion of controlled precursors; cooperation in combatting terrorism and transnational crimes and migration and maritime labor.

Other areas of cooperation under the PCA include employment and social affairs, development cooperation, economic policy, financial services, good governance in the tax area, industrial policy and SMEs, information and communications technology, audiovisual, media and multimedia, science and technology, transport, tourism, education, culture, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, energy, environment and natural resources including climate change, agriculture fisheries and rural development, regional development, health, statistics, disaster risk management, and public administration.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Agreements with Germany and Sweden aim to ensure social security benefits of Filipinos working or residing in these countries.

Legarda cited the importance of the SSA with Germany and Sweden.

“Many of the countries where Filipinos live and work do not have social safety nets for foreign nationals. This leaves our workers in a precarious situation should the need for such safety nets arise,” she said.

The Social Security Agreements aim to improve the administration of social security benefits for Filipinos working and living in Germany and Sweden, respectively.

These agreements contain standard provisions that are consistent with International Labor Organization conventions on social security.