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PH-EU partnership and cooperation agreement approved by European Parliament in Strasbourg
MANILA—The European Parliament, in its plenary session in Strasbourg, France on June 8, gave its consent to the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) between the European Union and its Member States and the Philippines.
The decision was made via a Motion that was adopted overwhelmingly by the Members of the European Parliament with 556 votes in favor, 62 against, and 59 abstentions.
Ambassador Victoria S. Bataclan, Head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union, led a delegation from the Philippine Mission to the EU based in Brussels in order to lobby for broad support for the PH-EU PCA among the various political groups in the European Parliament.
With this development, the PCA will only require the ratification of three remaining individual EU member states before entry into force on the side of the EU. On the part of the Philippines, preparations are under way to secure Senate concurrence of the Agreement.
The PCA will serve as the general framework of relations between the Philippines and the EU on many areas of interest such as political matters, justice and security, trade and investment, migration and development, and other economic, development, and sectoral issues. It will also allow the Philippines and the EU to cooperate on these issues in a more systematic and sustainable way.
