Plenary Session: Conclusion of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement

Conclusion of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (A9-0003/2020 - Geert Bourgeois)

I voted against the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam because it contains the same flaws as the previous agreements (CETA, Singapore, Japan), which the Group of the Greens/EFA and PAN have criticized consistently.

The resolution recently adopted by the European Parliament on the European Green Deal calls on the EU to ensure that all future trade agreements include strong and binding chapters on sustainability. This agreement does not fulfill this objective and is neither compatible nor consistent with the Paris Agreement.
Furthermore, the human rights situation in Vietnam has also deteriorated steadily since the beginning of negotiations in 2012. We do not agree with the ratification of such an ambitious agreement in this worrying context of conflict with basic human rights, not least because we can only improve the situation of the Vietnamese people if we use our economic and social influence with the FTA. By ratifying this agreement, the EU sends a signal that it only cares about the profits of its companies and disregards the social component of these agreements.
We need a paradigm shift in EU trade policy where the social and environmental dimensions are truly at the heart of trade and investment agreements.

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