9 April, 2019 – Công Ty Cổ Phần Sợi Thế Kỷ

European Parliament may ratify EVFTA in June or July

Updated at Thursday, 04 Apr 2019, 16:43

The Hanoitimes – Both the EU and Vietnam are going towards the right direction, while a dialogue mechanism is important for both parties to deal with issues of difference.

The signing and ratification of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) may take place in June or July, after the European Parliament (EP) completes its elections and starts the new tenure, according to Bernd Lange, chairman of the EP’s committee on International Trade (INTA).

Overview of the meeting. Source: quochoi.vn

The delay was due to the EU having to focus on some pending issues, including the Brexit, Lange said in a meeting with Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Brussels on April 3.

Meanwhile, Lange said he fully supports the signing and ratification of the EVFTA.

Overall, both the EU and Vietnam are going towards the right direction, while a dialogue mechanism is important for both parties to deal with issues of disagreement.

At the meeting, Ngan said Vietnam is focusing on realizing its commitments made in the deal, adding that the National Assembly has legalized those commitments.

Ngan expected Lange’s support in making the EVFTA and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) between Vietnam and EU at the top of the agenda of the newly elected EP.

According to Ngan, as a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Vietnam has been working on revising the Labor Code for better protecting laborers’ interests and rights.

The revised Labor Code is schedule to be submitted to the National Assembly in May for review and admendment.

The National Assembly is willing to work with representatives of the INTA and other EP agencies to narrow the differences and reach a mutual perception, Ngan stated.

Vietnam has conducted a full spectrum lobbying plan to have the EVFTA ratified as soon as possible after the United States withdrew from the landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership deal in January 2017.

The EVFTA, if signed, would become the first trade deal between the EU and a developing country in Asia. In addition to the deal, the EU currently has two FTAs with Singapore – subject to approval, and Japan, which came into force in early February.

Under the Vietnam’s EVFTA commitment, the country would remove 65% of import tariffs for European goods right after the deal becomes effective. The remaining would be gradually removed in the next 10 years.

In return, the EU is committed to removing 71% of import tariffs for Vietnamese items, and the remaining in the next seven years.

Over the past ten years, trade turnover between the EU and Vietnam has increased 10-fold to US$53 billion in 2018. The EU is currently Vietnam’s third largest trading partner, while Vietnam is the bloc’s 19th largest partner in the world, and the second largest in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Ngoc Thuy

January 7, 2019

Bruno Angelet, Ambassador and head of the European Union Delegation to Vietnam, told VIR that the European Council is now considering the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which will then be submitted to the European Parliament for adoption.

In October 2018 the European Commission (EC) adopted the EVFTA and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (IPA). The two texts were then submitted to the European Council the following month for official signature.

“Now in Brussels, member states in the council are reviewing the agreement and we hope that by February or March 2019, they can endorse the deal. I am sure the deal will be signed,” Angelet confirmed. “If everything goes smoothly, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will come to Vietnam for the signing.”

But Angelet noted that in May 2019, the European bloc will have an election for a new parliament. “The latest time the EVFTA can be ratified is in April. If the existing parliament cannot sign in April, or maybe in May or June, then the next parliament will do so.”

In addition to considering the EVFTA signing, the EU will have to push itself to adopt its bilateral FTA with Singapore signed in October 2018, its first FTA with an ASEAN nation.

Once the European Council agrees to sign, the next step will be European Parliament consent.

“In practice this means the parliament will have very little time for deliberations before the end of its current term in April 2019, which means ratification and entry into force of the EVFTA may have to wait until autumn 2019, and the IPA will take longer due to the requirement for member state ratification,” the parliament said on its website.

However, according to Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, the Vietnamese government will continue working with the European Union to “sign and adopt the EVFTA as soon as is feasibly possible, especially before May 2019 when the EU parliament election take places.”

Great benefits

The EVFTA will eliminate virtually all tariffs on goods traded between the two sides (see below). It also includes a strong, legally-binding commitment to sustainable development, including the respect of human rights, labor rights, environmental protection and the fight against climate change, with an explicit reference to the Paris Agreement.

According to the European Parliament, the EU hopes that the FTA with Vietnam will boost trade and investment.

“The FTA is also an important stepping stone to a wider EU-Southeast Asia trade deal, something which the EU has been striving towards for nearly a decade,” the parliament said. “Vietnam, a fast-growing and competitive economy whose bilateral trade with the EU has quintupled over the past 10 years, is equally keen on the deal, which could potentially boost its GDP by 15 percent.”

“The trade and investment agreements with Vietnam are exemplary of Europe’s trade policy. They bring unprecedented advantages and benefits for European and Vietnamese companies, workers and consumers. They take fully into account the economic differences between the two sides,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the EC.

In particular, according to the EC, the EVFTA will create parity for EU companies and innovative products.

“The EVFTA will level the playing field between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises when state-owned enterprises are engaged in commercial activities,” said an EC document on the EVFTA. “There are also rules on transparency, and consultations on domestic subsidies. These are the most ambitious rules that Vietnam has ever agreed to in an international deal.”

On intellectual property rights, Vietnam has committed to a high level of protection going beyond standards of the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement. With this, EU innovations, artworks and brands will be better protected against being unlawfully copied, including through stronger enforcement provisions.

The EU pharmaceutical sector in particular will benefit from improved protection of test data and from the possibility to get an extension of the term of the patent up to two years if there are delays in marketing authorization.

Vietnam has also taken on ambitious commitments concerning the procurement of pharmaceutical products, for instance allowing companies with European capital to import and sell medicines to distributors and wholesalers within the country.

source: vir.com.vn