The second Philippines –EU Joint Committee met in Manila on 26 April 2022.

The Joint Committee reviewed the implementation of the EU-Philippines Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and a broad range of topics including the current situation in the Philippines and the EU, sectoral cooperation in a number of areas, and geopolitical developments in Asia and Europe.

 The Philippines was  led by DFA Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma Theresa P Lazaro  while the EU Delegation was led by Mr. Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service. They were also joined, physically and virtually, by representatives from Philippine government agencies, the European Commission and EU Member States and the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines.  

From calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces in Ukraine to working together to maintaining the international rules-based order in South China Sea. A discussion of ways forward on peacebuilding in Mindanao, GSP+ and areas of maritime cooperation to Copernicus space programme,  these and more were discussed.

The EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific were discussed. Both sides agreed to build on and reinforce synergies between both strategies to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with all partners in the region.

The third EU-Philippines Joint Committee will be held in Brussels in the first quarter of 2023. The three sub-committees will be held in Manila prior to that.

Both parties concluded with a Joint Communique