—

having regard to the draft Council decision (11908/2022),

—

having regard to the request for consent submitted by the Council in accordance with Article 209 and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a)(iii) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (C9-0429/2022),

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having regard to the draft Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Thailand, of the other part (1),

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having regard to the joint communications of the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 16 September 2021 entitled ‘The EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific’ (JOIN(2021)0024) and of 1 December 2021 entitled ‘The Global Gateway’ (JOIN(2021)0030),

—

having regard to its resolutions of 7 June 2022 on the EU and the security challenges in the Indo-Pacific (2) and of 5 July 2022 on the Indo-Pacific strategy in the area of trade and investment (3),

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having regard to the joint leaders’ statement agreed at the EU-ASEAN commemorative summit held in Brussels on 14 December 2022,

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having regard to its resolution of 3 October 2017 on EU political relations with ASEAN (4),

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having regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, signed on 7 March 1980, which constitutes the legal framework for EU-ASEAN relations (5),

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having regard to its resolutions of 8 October 2015 on the situation in Thailand (6) and of 6 October 2016 on Thailand, notably the situation of Andy Hall (7),

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having regard to the Council conclusions of 14 October 2019 on Thailand,

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having regard to the 12th EU-Thailand Inter-parliamentary meeting, held remotely on 8 December 2022,

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having regard to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol,

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having regard to the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO),

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having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966, to which Thailand is a state party,

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having regard to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 15 December 1989, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty,

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having regard to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance of 23 December 2010,

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having regard to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 10 December 1984 and its Optional Protocol,

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having regard to the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

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having regard to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 17 July 1998,

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having regard to the Commission communication of 22 June 2022 entitled ‘The power of trade partnerships: together for green and just economic growth’ (COM(2022)0409),

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having regard to Rule 105(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the letter from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A9-0193/2023),

A.

whereas the Indo-Pacific region is home to increasingly important political, trade and security partners for the EU, including Thailand; whereas a free, connected and stable Indo-Pacific region based on rules and respect for international law, in line with European principles and standards, is highly desirable for the EU’s security and interests;

B.

whereas Thailand is a founding member of ASEAN; whereas the first-ever summit between the leaders of EU and ASEAN member states, which took place on 14 December 2022, marked 45 years of diplomatic relations between the EU and ASEAN and reconfirmed their mutual commitment to their strategic partnership;

C.

whereas EU-Thailand relations are built on long-standing political, economic and cultural ties;

D.

whereas the EU and Thailand’s current cooperation is based on the 1980 EU-ASEAN Cooperation Agreement;

E.

whereas in 2004, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate an individual partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) with Thailand;

F.

whereas the EU and Thailand completed negotiations on a PCA in March 2013, but the military coup in Thailand in 2014 halted the process and consequently delayed the election of a civilian government until 2019;

G.

whereas following the March 2019 elections in Thailand, the Council stated in its October 2019 conclusions that it was appropriate for the EU to take steps towards broadening its engagement with Thailand by preparing for the timely signature of the PCA;

H.

whereas the renewed negotiations on the PCA concluded on 11 June 2022;

I.

whereas Thailand is both highly vulnerable to climate change and a relatively major producer of global emissions; whereas at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Thailand pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050;

J.

whereas the EU and Thailand aim to establish a modern, broad and mutually beneficial partnership, based on shared interests and principles; whereas they reaffirm through the PCA their respect for democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms, as laid down in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948;

K.

whereas Thailand was among the first countries to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but its overall human rights record remains problematic;

L.

whereas Thailand ranked 79th in the 2021 Gender Inequality Index and Thai women continue to be strongly under-represented in employment and politics, although the country has seen a reverse gender gap in higher education, being ranked first in the world for the ratio of female-to-male students;

M.

whereas the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has recorded 76 outstanding cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand;

N.

whereas the death penalty continues to be applied in Thailand, even though the country’s fourth National Human Rights Plan (2019-2023) contains a commitment to moving towards the abolition of capital punishment; whereas Thailand is not a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty;

O.

whereas Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, and lacks a domestic legal framework to specifically recognise and provide protection to refugees, notably those from Myanmar, who are routinely either confined to camps or face arbitrary arrest, detention or forcible deportation back to their country of origin, in violation of the right to asylum and the principle of non-refoulement;

P.

whereas the Thai Government has recently restricted fundamental rights, particularly the rights to free expression and assembly, including by arbitrarily arresting pro-democracy activists and opposition leaders, and in 2022 it introduced a draft law to tightly control all civil society organisations;

Q.

whereas Thailand has not yet ratified fundamental ILO conventions, particularly the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention; whereas in practice, union leaders and workers often face criminal charges or are dismissed for their union activity; whereas the more than two million migrant workers in the country are discriminated against and do not enjoy the same labour rights as local workers, including the right to organise;

R.

whereas more than half of the world’s fishing vessels operate in the South China Sea, which alone accounts for around 12 % of the world’s fishing; whereas the EU is engaged in dialogue with Thailand and has set up a working group on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the country; whereas despite government-instituted reforms in the fishing industry, many migrant workers in Thailand continue to be subjected to forced labour;

S.

whereas Thailand is the world’s leading producer of canned tuna and the EU’s chief competitor in this sector; whereas a free trade agreement with Thailand could pose a serious threat to the EU canned fish and seafood industry, which is of crucial importance to a number of coastal regions because of its leading role in generating wealth and employment and in providing labour-intensive jobs for women;

T.

whereas the EU and the ASEAN region are each other’s third-largest trading partners, whereas the EU is Thailand’s fourth-largest trading partner and the second-largest investor in Thailand;

U.

whereas negotiations between the EU and Thailand on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) commenced in 2013, but the EU put the negotiations on hold in 2014; whereas the EU and Thailand relaunched the negotiations on 15 March 2023;