Source: European Parliament
The EU remains concerned about the human rights situation in the Philippines. The European External Action Service and the Commission raise these concerns regularly, both bilaterally and when engaging in multilateral fora such as the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Human rights issues are an integral part of the EU’s relations with the Philippines, as set out in the partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA)[1] and are discussed in detail during the annual meetings of the EU-Philippines Subcommittee on Good Governance, the Rule of Law and Human Rights and in the GSP+ monitoring under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences[2] (GSP) .
T he Commission finances programmes that strengthen the rule of law by improving access to justice, supporting judicial reforms and enhancing accountability and human rights protection across the country.
The Commission engages with, and welcomes input from, all civil society, including human rights organisations. The EU text proposals[3] include a chapter on trade and sustainable development (TSD), in line with the 2022 Commission TSD communication[4], proposing more participation and support for civil society and a stronger focus on implementation and enforcement and cover human rights through the proposed provisions on labour standards and gender equality.
The EU has proposed human rights as an essential element of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by linking to the relevant provisions of the PCA.
In 2022, the Commission published a Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA)[5], which includes a dedicated section with a human rights impact assessment, and all elements in the SIA are taken into consideration in the text proposals and during the ongoing FTA negotiation.
- [1] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents/treaties-agreements/agreement/?id=2011002&DocLanguage=en.
- [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/978/2023-11-28.
- [3] https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/09242a36-a438-40fd-a7af-fe32e36cbd0e/library/ad546f8a-b5ba-4a51-ba60-88993dc42d18?p=1.
- [4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022DC0409&qid=1656586727707.
- [5] https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/09242a36-a438-40fd-a7af-fe32e36cbd0e/library/7ce196ff-3fba-487e-a6ce-1f72e04e40d0/details?download=true.