On Tuesday 20 February, the EU and Vietnam dismissed responsibility for the delays at technical level ahead of the validation of the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, which was concluded in December 2015. The delays were criticised by European Parliament rapporteur Jan Zahradil (ECR, Czech Republic), whilst several of his colleagues said they were concerned about the worsening situation of human rights and labour rights in the country.
"The problem is that we have a very committed partner at the political level but sometimes we do not have the same dynamism at the technical level", a representative from the European Commission told the European Parliament's international trade committee on Tuesday, explaining that Vietnam's "priority" over recent months had been the conclusion of a successful transpacific partnership without the USA, rather than the formal conclusion of its agreement with the EU.
"We have the impression that it is the procedures at the level of the European institutions that are taking the time, as can be seen by the 'translation' (Ed: in the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement) of the ruling of the European Court of Justice on the EU-Singapore free trade agreement", Vietnam's ambassador to the EU, Vuong Thua Phong, replied. He was also at the European Parliament committee meeting on Tuesday.
After two years of legal scrubbing, which is still not complete, particularly because of "discussions that are ongoing" between the two parties on the "translation" of the CJEU opinion on the EU-Singapore free trade agreement in its architecture, the text of the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement is also experiencing delays with translation into all the EU languages.
"We have 14 months left until April 2019 to adopt this agreement and we are still not able to know if we can do our job within the time limit. If we cannot, I will consider it a failure for us", Zahradil had said earlier. "We should lend our support for the EU to engage, at a time when protectionism is making a return and when the USA is isolating itself. We have every reason to be increasingly worried", he added.
Alessia Mosca (S&D, Italy) and Anne Marie Mineur (GUE/NGL, Netherlands) underlined their concerns about the deterioration of human rights and labour rights reported by many NGOs. They also deplored the fact that Vietnam has still not ratified three fundamental ILO conventions – those on the freedom of association, on collective negotiation and against forced labour.
"There is a big risk that Vietnam could become a second Bangladesh if it does not manage to invest in a sustainable economy", Mineur warned.
Vuong underlined Vietnam's "commitment" to join the ILO conventions, saying that it had adopted "roadmaps" with a view to ratifying them.
David Martin (S&D, UK) meanwhile deplored the appearance of new restrictions to trade in Vietnam, like the increase in excise duties on alcohol. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)