MANILA, Philippines – Human rights, peace, and security will take center stage in the first negotiating round on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union and the Philippines, the head of the EU panel said in his opening remarks Monday.

James Moran, director for Asia of the European Commission External Relations, said the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which celebrated its 60th year last year, as well as the United Nations Charter put on the two countries "a common responsibility to preserve peace in the world and to resolve disputes in a peaceful manner," he said.

"While we all know that these principles are defied every day
somewhere in the world, the answer cannot be to question or qualify these principles. Rather, our response must be to uphold, defend, and strengthen these universal ideas: Respect of human rights and the collective preservation of peace and security are the very basis for improving the life of our peoples. This is one of the objectives of the PCA," the head of the EU delegation to the talks said.

To Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for International Economic Relations Edsel Custodio, the two-day talks will provide an opportunity "to develop areas that enable the Philippines to adapt to global trends – at a pace it is comfortable with."

Custodio said that while the Philippines could learn from Europe's expertise and experience, the country would insist on having "the flexibility to determine priority areas that maximizes domestic development" in the provisions of the PCA.

To EU's Moran, the relationship between the two entities has
"tremendous potential."

"The Philippines are in many ways closer to the EU than many other Asian countries. Historical ties have bound us over centuries. We both share [partly] the same language, we both live in vibrant democracies and we both cherish the respect of human rights," he said.

"On the economic level, the EU has in recent years been among the largest investors in the Philippines, and is currently the
Philippines' second-largest export market," he added.

Moran said that aside from a bilateral partner, Philippines was also a "reliable partner" in regional and international fora, like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the UN.

"We have been happy to work together in areas such as campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide –
just as, closer to home, we have been happy to support your efforts to build peace in Mindanao," he said.

Moran said the new agreement, to determine the level and areas
of cooperation between the two political units, would be needed because of internal changes within Union.

"Nowadays it has become a global player in its own right. Europe has substantially shifted away from a mere economic Community to a political Union. In Europe, we have developed from a Community of nine Member States in 1980 to a Union of 27 Member States with over 500 million residents [almost one million of whom are Filipino]," he said.

Since establishing diplomatic relationship with the Philippines, EU has provided more than one billion euros in cooperation programs, which do not include bilateral programs of member-states.

On the pipeline until 2013 is 130 million euros in development funds.