The EU announces a trade agreement with the Philippines

BarcelonaThe European Union has announced a new trade agreement with the Philippines. Negotiators from the European Commission and the Philippine government have closed a "substantial agreement" to facilitate trade between the two territories, as explained this Tuesday by the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic.

This substantial agreement is a necessary step in the negotiations before closing the entire free trade treaty "in the coming months". Thus, European and Filipino negotiators will have to polish the details of the document, as both parties consider the bulk of the contents to be good. "The key parameters [of the trade agreement] are there and are approved at a political level. Now we must translate these figures and key agreements into the legal text," indicated Sefcovic.

According to Commission data, last year the EU and the Philippines exchanged goods worth 17.6 billion euros, while the exchange of services was 10.3 billion in 2024, the latest with available data. With the new trade treaty, both parties will eliminate 94% of the tariffs and other trade barriers that are still in force, which will benefit the trade of 97% of the products and services that are already exchanged.

The Philippines is an archipelago in Southeast Asia with a population of almost 118 million inhabitants, that is to say, like Spain and France together. Since 2021, when the world economy reactivated after the shock of the pandemic, the Philippine economy has grown between 4.4% and 7.6% each year. The most sold European products in the Philippines are machinery, transport equipment, medicines, pork, poultry, and dairy products.

Although it still has to be finished and signed, with this agreement Brussels opens the doors to "one of the most dynamic economies in Southeast Asia", the region of the planet that has boosted global economic growth the most this century. The EU already has free trade agreements with Vietnam and Indonesia and is "in talks" with Malaysia and Thailand, explained Sefcovic, which would also be added to the treaties with the industrialized economies of the region, such as Japan and South Korea, approved for years.

With the closing of more agreements with countries in the region, the EU is strengthening its economic presence in Asia at a time of growing trade tensions with both China and the United States.

330 million in Catalan exports

Regarding Catalonia, the Philippines is still a minor trading partner, but one with which it has a favorable trade balance. In 2024, sales by Catalan companies to the Asian country were 330 million euros – only 0.3% of the total exported that year – while imports were 168 million, according to data from Acció, the Generalitat's agency for economic competitiveness. Even so, Catalonia is the autonomous community with the largest trade relationship, as Catalan companies accounted for 36% of the volume of exports and 33% of Spanish imports in the Philippine market.

Among the main Catalan products sold to the Philippines are, above all, meat and beverages, which account for more than half of exports, followed by pharmaceutical products and perfumery and cosmetic products. Regarding imports of Philippine products, animal and vegetable oils and fats stand out above all, which account for more than 60% of Catalan purchases from the country, in addition to electrical appliances and equipment.

Although it was a Spanish colony for more than four centuries, with the defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Philippines achieved independence and came under the sphere of influence of the United States. The presence of Spanish on the islands is negligible, where the official languages are English and Filipino.