Between 23-25 September 2024, the Royal Thai Embassy in Brussels organized for Deputy Director General Somrudee Poopornanake and her delegation from the Department of European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, to visit Brussels for meetings with the European Union counterparts. During this visit, DDG Somrudee together with relevant Team Thailand Offices in Brussels, met with her counterparts from the European External Action Service and seven other Directorates-General of the European Union (EU) in Brussels, Belgium, with the aim of deepening and expanding partnership between Thailand and the EU in all areas of cooperation, as enshrined in the Thailand-EU Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). The PCA will be provisionally applied on 20 October 2024 and will help foster a strategic partnership among Thailand, the EU and its 27 Member States.

On this occasion, both sides discussed and exchanged views on issues such as Thailand’s request on visa-free Schengen for Thai ordinary passport holders; Thailand-EU FTA; combating IUU fishing and promotion of sustainable fisheries; security issues relating to transnational crimes and cybercrime/fraud; Global Gateway project and environmental standards under European Green Deal such as Deforestation-free Products Regulation (EUDR) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to explore areas of cooperation and further concretise the PCA.

In addition, both sides discussed a high-level exchange of visit and the the first Thailand – EU Joint Committee which will be hosted by the EU and expected to be held during the second quarter of 2025.