DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                 2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                               Tel. No. 834-4000 

SFA-AGR-516-05                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             22  July 2005

JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENTOF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
THE HEADS OF MISSION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES REPRESENTED IN MANILA
ON THE UK PRESIDENCY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
CARLOS P. GARCIA CONFERENCE HALL, DFA, PASAY CITY
21 JULY 2004

The Department of Foreign Affairs, led by The Hon. Sonia Brady, Undersecretary for Policy, and the Heads of Mission of the European Union Member States represented in Manila (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom), of the European Commission and of Romania (EU candidate member), held an Informal Dialogue in Manila on 20 July.  After the Dialogue, Undersecretary Brady and Ambassador Peter Beckingham, representing the UK Presidency of the EU, issued the following statement:

“Today’s Dialogue underlined the growing links between the Philippines and the European Union.  The European Union Member States represent a major source of foreign direct investment in the Philippines, and over 500,000 Filipinos work in the European Union.  In addition, as the Dialogue highlighted, we share many common values and goals on issues such as terrorism, organised crime, human rights and illegal migration.  In all these issues, we agreed that it was important to maintain regular contacts.  We noted with sadness that the recent London terrorist attacks had highlighted once more the urgency of co-operation between the European Union and other countries, including the Philippines, on counter-terrorism.

The DFA raised concerns that official development assistance to the Philippines might be affected by the European Union’s global work on counter-terrorism. In response, the DFA was re-assured that this was unlikely to be the case.  The DFA also asked the Schengen Member States present at the Dialogue for an informal follow-up meeting on visa regulations and issuance. This received a positive response.  The DFA also reiterated concerns on travel advisories about the Philippines.

Among the issues raised by the European Union, and on which there was a valuable exchange of views, were the Philippines’ ratification of the International Criminal Court Statute, the death penalty, Burma’s Chairmanship of ASEAN, Avian Flu, the Peace Process with the MILF and the killings of journalists and human rights defenders.

We agreed that the Dialogue should continue in September or October and will focus on the major trade and investment links between the Philippines and the European Union.”  END
 
 
 

/bjg