The EU and the Philippines have reached “substantial agreement” in negotiations on a free trade agreement.
The deal was announced after a video call between EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and the Philippines’ trade and industry secretary, Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, the European Commission disclosed on Tuesday.
It said the agreement is now on a path to be finalised in the coming months.
Trade in goods between the EU and the Philippines totalled €17.6bn in 2025, while trade in services reached €10.3bn in 2024, the Commission said.
It added that the EU was the Philippines’ fourth-largest trading partner in 2025, accounting for 8.3% of the country’s total goods trade.
Under the agreement, more than 94% of tariff lines would be liberalised, covering more than 97% of bilateral trade.
The Philippines, with 113 million people, was described as a major market for EU exporters.
EU industrial exports to the Philippines are led by machinery and appliances, transport equipment, medicines and medical appliances, the Commission said.
It added that key EU agrifood exports include meat products such as pork and poultry, as well as dairy products and spirits.
Procurement, digital trade and sustainability provisions
The agreement includes rules on government procurement that would open the Philippine government procurement market to foreign bidders for the first time, the Commission said.
It also includes provisions on intellectual property, including protection for a list of EU Geographical Indications — names for products linked to specific places, such as certain foods and drinks.
The Commission said the deal contains rules intended to facilitate digital trade while guaranteeing data privacy and consumer protection.
It also includes provisions on sanitary and phytosanitary measures — rules designed to protect people, animals and plants from risks such as pests and diseases — and technical barriers to trade.
Human rights and the Paris Agreement on climate change would be “essential elements” of the agreement, alongside a trade and sustainable development chapter, the Commission said.
It added that there are also provisions on energy and raw materials, including measures linked to investment in renewable energy.
The EU and the Philippines first launched negotiations in 2015, before talks were interrupted and later resumed in March 2024, the Commission said.
It put the EU’s foreign direct investment stock in the Philippines at €15.4bn, and the Philippines’ investment stock in the EU at €2.4bn.
