Brussels, 01/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 1 February, the European Commission published the full text of the free-trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam, officially concluded at the start of December 2015, along with a human rights and sustainable development analysis.
As is the usual procedure, the text of the agreement (available online at http://goo.gl/QVkNT6 ) will now undergo a legal review to verify its consistency and ensure that all the provisions are formulated in a legally-sound way. It will then be translated into all EU languages before being presented to the Council and the European Parliament for ratification.
The EU-Vietnam free-trade agreement was officially concluded at the start of December of last year (see EUROPE 11444) after an agreement in principle was reached in August (see EUROPE 11372).
This, the first agreement of its kind concluded between the EU and a developing country, covers the trade in goods and services, investment, public procurement, intellectual property (including geographical indications), non-tariff barriers, health and plant health measures, technical obstacles to trade, customs cooperation and trade facilitation.
In addition, Vietnam agreed to the inclusion within the agreement of a chapter on investment which is based on the reformed approach on investment protection and supported by the new investor-state dispute resolution settlement system proposed by the Commission in autumn 2015.
The agreement also includes a chapter on sustainable development. Here, the analysis on human rights and sustainable development, published along with the text of the agreement (available at http://goo.gl/dg6VEm ) provides an overview of the key policies and provisions framing EU-Vietnam relations with a view to further promoting human rights and sustainable development. It also elaborates on how relevant provisions of the agreement will be implemented and monitored.
The Commission, which says that the analysis responds to the main recommendations made by stakeholders at the round-table discussion in May 2015, pledges to continue strengthening the way in which it addresses human rights in its engagement and dialogue with Vietnam, including in the framework of the free trade agreement and the EU-Vietnam partnership and cooperation agreement. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)