Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and members for the opportunity to discuss the motion I have proposed and which has been referred to the select committee for consideration. The motion seeks Dáil approval of the terms of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Co-operation between the European Union and its member states, of the one part, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, of the other part. Vietnam is a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations, ASEAN. Co-operation between the EU and ASEAN members is currently based on the 1980 co-operation agreement between the European Community and ASEAN, which was extended to Vietnam in 1999, and the 1995 agreement between the European Community and Vietnam. In 2007, the Council authorised the European Commission to negotiate a framework agreement on partnership and co-operation, PCA, with Vietnam. The PCA was signed by all parties on 27 June 2012 and represents an important step towards enhanced political and economic engagement by the EU in the south-east Asia region. It replaces agreements on co-operation between the EU and Vietnam dating from the mid and late 1990s. The new agreement is intended to strengthen political, economic and sectoral co-operation across a wide range of policy fields, including peace and security, conflict prevention, crisis management, trade, environment, energy, science and technology, as well as good governance, tourism and culture, migration, counter-terrorism and the fight against corruption and organised crime. It also aims to further enhance co-operation in responding to global challenges, where both Vietnam and the EU are playing an increasingly important role. Each member state of the European Union, together with the EU and Vietnam, will become a party to this mixed competence agreement. It is called a “mixed competence” agreement because some of the areas covered by the agreement are matters of EU competence, while others remain within the competence of the member states.

Vietnam has now become one of the EU's main partners in south-east Asia. In 2014, the EU was the second trading partner for Vietnam after China, not including trade within ASEAN, representing 10% of total Vietnamese trade. The EU was Vietnam’s second export destination, after the US, with the EU purchasing as much as 18% of Vietnam's global exports. In 2014, EU-Vietnam trade in goods was worth more than €28.2 billion, with €22.1 billion of imports from Vietnam into the EU and €6.2 billion of exports from the EU to Vietnam. Vietnam's key export items to the EU include telephone sets, electronic products, footwear, textiles and clothing, coffee, rice, seafood, and furniture. EU exports to Vietnam, meanwhile, are dominated by high-tech products including electrical machinery and equipment, aircraft, vehicles and pharmaceutical products. Total bilateral trade in services amounted in 2013 to €2.9 billion, with a slight surplus for the EU. The EU is one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam. In 2013, EU investors committed more than €500 million in foreign direct investment and thus it remains Vietnam's sixth largest foreign investor partner. Since 2013, Vietnam has been the EU's fourth most important trading partner among the ten ASEAN member states, surpassing the EU’s bilateral trade with Indonesia.

Conclusion of the PCA facilitated the launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement, FTA, with Vietnam. The EU is looking forward to the realisation of the potential of the trade and investment principles established in the PCA through this future EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, which will bring two-way trade and investment to new levels. The FTA negotiations started in 2012 and agreement was reached in principle in August 2015, with some technical issues and legal text just finalised. On 2 December, the European Commissioner for Trade and the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade issued a declaration announcing the successful conclusion of the negotiations on the FTA, which also referenced the soon-to-be-ratified partnership and co-operation agreement as representing milestones on the path towards a maturing comprehensive political partnership. Signature of the FTA will take place at a technical level, most likely in January 2016. The aim is to have the FTA ratified as soon as possible in order that the agreement can enter into force in early 2018. The partnership and co-operation agreement is to enter into force on the first day of the month following the date on which the last party has notified the other of the completion of the relevant domestic legal procedures necessary for its entry into force. As the agreement involves mixed competence, it must be signed and ratified by all 28 member states. Some 24 member states already have ratified the agreement. Four member states, including Ireland, have yet to ratify. The other three are France, Italy and Greece. In Ireland’s case, the approval of Dáil Éireann is required prior to ratification of the agreement.

On 23 February 2015, the European Parliament was officially requested by the Council to give its consent to the draft Council decision on the framework agreement for the comprehensive partnership and co-operation agreement, PCA, between the EU and Vietnam. This debate will take place in the European Parliament’s plenary session today, 16 December. Only after the ratification by all member states and by the European Parliament may the Council finally ratify the PCA and the PCA can enter into force. The ratification of the EU-Vietnam agreement not only strengthens the foundation of the relationship between the EU, its member states and Vietnam but charts a course for much-needed political and economic reforms. Through Ireland’s ratification of this agreement, we will show our own support for the people of Vietnam. The EU will provide assistance to Vietnam with the implementation of the reform measures. In terms of financial assistance the EU, between the years 2007 and 2013, made available €298.4 million to Vietnam to support national reforms and modernisation efforts. The EU will continue to provide assistance in the current and future years and has approved a new multi-annual indicative programme, for the period 2014 to 2020, of €400 million to support Vietnam's socioeconomic development.

In conclusion, I thank the select committee again. I hope this motion will meet the committee’s approval and that Dáil Éireann will approve the terms of the agreement in order that Ireland can proceed to ratify in the near future. For the information of the Chairman and members, I am accompanied by Kevin Dowling, director of the Department's bilateral co-operation unit, and Paul Griffin, who is on my left, as well as Maeve Collins, regional director for the Asia-Pacific unit and a former ambassador to Vietnam and Fiona Nic Dhonnacha, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific unit.