The European Union and Thailand have announced the restart of negotiations for a balanced and sustainable free trade agreement. This will strengthen the EU’s engagement with Southeast Asia, with the aim of boosting trade and investment by addressing market access, intellectual property rights, digital trade, and sustainable development. Despite the existing well-established trade relations, the EU is under-represented in innovative sectors in Thailand, providing potential for more business and investment opportunities. The EU and Thailand aim to hold the first round of negotiations soon, and a Sustainability Impact Assessment will be conducted to evaluate the potential impacts of the agreement.
The FTA talks between the EU and Thailand are set to make significant progress, with plans for a first round of substantive negotiations to take place in the near future. The EU’s transparency policy will be upheld, and the text proposals will be made public following this initial round. Furthermore, a Sustainability Impact Assessment will be commissioned to evaluate the potential economic, environmental, human rights, and social impacts of the agreement. This assessment will offer recommendations on how to maximize positive effects while minimizing negative ones.
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European Commission. (2023, March 15). EU-Thailand trade talks: Commission publishes draft text proposals and initiates Sustainability Impact Assessment. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1628
