In the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA), the trade agreements between the EU and Vietnam were finally validated without major opposition from the political groups on Tuesday 21 January (see EUROPE 12286/5).
Supporting the free trade agreement (FTA) by 29 votes in favour, 6 against and 5 abstentions, MEPs pointed out that the treaty was also an instrument for environmental protection and social progress in Vietnam, as underlined in the resolution accompanying the consent decision (see EUROPE 12406/4). The Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) received three votes fewer than the FTA (26-7-6).
It is now up to Parliament’s plenary to validate the agreements on 11 and 12 February. The investment agreement will then have to be ratified by the national parliaments of the Member States.
“We can be confident and hopeful about the vote in the plenary, because we succeeded in building a compromise of the main political groups in the Parliament”, said Iuliu Winkler (EPP, Romania). “Of course some more steps are needed in the following weeks [...] and signals from the Vietnamese government”, he told reporters, as “more clarity can come [on] some points that are of wide interest here in Parliament”. He referred in particular to the roadmap being developed by Hanoi to implement the provisions of the FTA’s sustainable development chapter.
While the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL groups unsurprisingly opposed the agreement (see EUROPE 12364/18), the vote brought some differences within the S&D group back to the fore. Such is the case of British MEP Jude Kirton-Darling who, for her last vote in the European Parliament, expressed her reservations via Twitter: “So far, we’ve just not seen enough concrete action on the ground. And that’s why I didn’t feel that I could support the trade deal today”.
Concluded in December 2015, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will eventually eliminate 99% of tariffs between the two parties. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)