29th November 2015

No FTA with military-ruled Thailand

According to a close aid to Cecilia Malmstroem, Commissioner for Trade, the suspended free trade negotiations with Thailand would not be resumed as long as Thailand is ruled by a military junta. The talks were in a quite developed stage when the coup came in 2014. According to the official, free trade negotiations are about more than pure business for the EU. In a situation where the public is very sensitive about TTIP and other trade talks, ratifying a deal with a military junta would be impossible in Europe. However, ASEAN countries remain one of the main goals of EU trade policy. Deals with Vietnam and Singapore were already finalized, with other negotiations going on – most recently, the talks with Philippines were opened. AN EU-ASEAN free trade deal remains the long term goal. EU sees trade as a way to push Thailand back to democracy – such tactics was used for Myanmar. After the partly free elections earlier this month, EU started to apply a preferential trade regime once again for this country.

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Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic