On 14 December 2022, on the margins of the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit in Brussels, the Kingdom of Belgium, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, on behalf of Thailand, officially signed the draft Thai-EU PCA together with
H.E. Mr. Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic in the capacity of President of the Council of the European Union, and H.E. Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. On this occasion, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and H.E. Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, also attended as witnesses.

The PCA signing ceremony marks an important milestone in the 44 year-long diplomatic relationship between Thailand and the EU, which began when the first European Community mission in Southeast Asia was founded in Bangkok in 1978. The PCA opens up a new era in Thailand-EU relations, reinvigorating and deepening the partnership on all fronts.

The PCA covers various cooperation areas, political, economic, social and environment. It provides a forward-looking framework for advancing cooperation in a more concrete and orderly manner. Thailand will benefit from knowledge-sharing sessions, policy consultations, capacity-building activities as well as the exchange of experts. The PCA will therefore be instrumental for Thailand in bringing about better management and higher standards. The cooperation under the PCA will also serve as a basis for, and create an environment conducive to the resumption of Thai-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. Under the PCA, Thailand will also be able to present and share its best practices, expertise and initiatives with the EU in areas such as health (e.g., the Universal Health Coverage Scheme) and the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model as an approach to realising balanced, inclusive and sustainable development and growth.