Brussels: Europe and Arabs

The EU and Thailand have finalized the text of the EU-Thailand Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). The chief negotiators initialed the text, and concluded the negotiation process, in a ceremony held Friday at the European External Action Service in Brussels. PCA will enhance political dialogue on issues of global concern and will allow greater scope for mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide number of policy areas, including environment, energy, climate change, transportation, science and technology, trade, employment and social affairs. , human rights, education, agriculture, non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, anti-corruption and organized crime, immigration and culture. It will be a roadmap that will positively frame the EU-Thailand relations in the coming years. The signing process ends with the initialization of the process that began in November 2004, when the Council authorized the Commission to negotiate individual Framework Agreements on Partnership and Cooperation with Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Arbitration Agreement shall be signed on a mutually agreed date, after the necessary internal procedures have been completed by both sides. It will enter into force once the parties have ratified it. Thailand is the sixth partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to conclude Partnership and Cooperation Agreement negotiations with the European Union after Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, and most recently Malaysia. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Thailand was first signed in March 2013 but its signing was suspended in 2014 following the military takeover of the country. Following the Council's 2019 conclusions, the EU considered it appropriate to take steps towards expanding its engagement with Thailand by preparing for the timely signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Negotiations on the agreement resumed on July 13, 2021 and concluded after the seventh round on June 11, 2022. Currently, EU-Thailand cooperation is based on the 1980 EU-ASEAN Cooperation Agreement. The agreement initialed today will give EU-Thailand relations a new legal basis, which is more comprehensive and up-to-date and will better respond to current challenges