Following our meeting with Chief Negotiator, Ms. Dora Correia, the ECCP also held separate meetings from 13-14 February at the ECCP Office and via Zoom to cover specific chapters of the proposed EU-PH FTA particularly on Digital Trade, Automotive, and Customs.

On 13 February, FTA Digital Trade Chapter Negotiator Ms. Monica Cunningham met with representatives from the ECCP ICT-BPM-KPM Committee at the ECCP Office in Makati City to discuss potential barriers and identify key areas to foster an enabling environment for digital trade. The meeting highlighted sector-specific concerns namely, (1) customs duties on electronic transmissions, (2) data localization and cross-border data flows, and (3) disclosures and accessibility to source code.

Present at this meeting were Ms. Monique De Guzman from the EU Delegation to the Philippines, ECCP ICT-BPM-KPM Co-chairperson and Global Process Manager Inc. President Mr. Erik Nielsen, ECCP ICT-BPM-KPM Co-chairperson and Trends & Concepts Executive Director for Communications & Investor Relations Mr. Karl Bantiling, FTA Committee Chairperson and TradeAdvisors CEO Atty. Tony Abad, ECCP Senior Advocacy Officer Joaquin Reloj, SAP Vice President and Head of Government Affairs for Southeast Asia Mr. Austin Menyasz, Techne SSI Corporate Relations Lead Mr. Mark Joseph Escay, and Atos GDC Philippines Country Head and CEO Mr. Jennire Torres.

Simultaneously, the automotive aspect of the EU-PH FTA was discussed in a separate virtual session with European Commission, DG TRADE Policy Officer Thomas Kuchtik and International Relations Officer Cecilia Rovelli, as well as EU Delegation to the Philippines Minister Counsellor and Head of Economic and Trade Section Philipp Dupuis. ECCP President and Bosch Philippines Managing Director Paulo Duarte; Continental Automotive ASEAN President Peter Rankl; Autohub Group Presidential Management Officer Yeale Frokjaer; and ECCP Industry and Government Affairs Manager Chienie Nethercott provided insights on the Philippine automotive industry’s trade and investment climate.

Earlier today at the ECCP Board Room, European Union representatives Spilios Michalopoulos, Thomas McKeown, and Monique De Guzman had an in-depth discussion with the ECCP on customs, rules of origin, and other trade facilitation concerns. Joining the session were Tax and Financial Services Vice Chairperson; Atty. Alden Labaguis; Customs and Logistics Committee Co-Chairperson Michael Raeuber; Royal Cargo Assistant Vice President for Customs Clearance & Brokerage Mary Ann Jangas; and ECCP Senior Advocacy Officer Austin Sy.