EU - Singapore 10th Senior Officials' Meeting in Singapore

The EU and Singapore held the 10^th Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) in Singapore on 3 June.

The EU and Singapore took stock of progress made in bilateral and regional cooperation between the EU and Singapore. Both sides welcomed the increasingly strong relations enriched by several new initiatives launched since the last SOM in 2022.

They highlighted the successful implementation of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, which has boosted growth in bilateral trade in goods and services to a record level of €130 billion in annual trade in goods and services in 2022. They hoped for the timely ratification of the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement.

Both sides welcomed the good progress on the EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement negotiations launched in July 2023. They expressed satisfaction with the progress made over the five rounds of negotiations since.

The two delegations also welcomed progress made on the implementation of the EU-Singapore Digital Partnership, launched on 1 February 2023. This included productive and positive exchanges on enhancing cooperation on regulatory approaches and governance frameworks, Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and research cooperation in cutting-edge technologies. Both sides also welcomed the adoption of the Joint Guide to ASEAN Model Contractual Clauses (MCCs) and EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), a practical tool addressed to businesses to facilitate free and safe data flows within and between the two regions.

In the area of science, technology and innovation, both delegations agreed that increased cooperation could accelerate progress in many fields, including the green transition. The EU welcomed Singapore’s recent announcement to enter into exploratory talks on Singapore’s association to the Horizon Europe programme.

On climate change and the environment, the delegations exchanged views on the upcoming Conferences of Parties on Climate Change (COP 29) and Biodiversity (COP 16) and agreed on the urgency to address the multi-layered climate crisis with a holistic approach. The Singapore delegation highlighted Singapore’s continued interest to work with the EU on the implementation of its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The EU delegation expressed the EU’s eagerness to cooperate further with Singapore on climate action, in particular on carbon pricing as a pivotal tool to incentivise emission reduction, and on water management where Singapore played a key role during the 2023 UN Water Conference.

Both delegations acknowledged the excellent transport cooperation and referred to the 7^th EU-Singapore Senior Transport Officials Meeting held in Brussels on 8 April 2024.

In the area of security, the EU and Singapore reviewed their growing cooperation in various fields ranging from maritime security and cybersecurity to the fight against hybrid threats and information manipulation, including disinformation. They discussed the usefulness of more regular and structured exchanges on security and defence.

The meeting reaffirmed the interest of both the EU and Singapore to continue deepening EU-ASEAN cooperation. The meeting also agreed that the EU-Singapore Senior Officials Meeting allowed for an excellent exchange of views on global and regional developments. During this meeting, the two sides shared their perspectives on the situation in Myanmar, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East.

The meeting was co-chaired by Niclas Kvarnström, Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific in the European External Action Service and Kevin Cheok, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

15 JUNE 2024