Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, of the other part

In May 2007, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) with Vietnam, based on the November 2004 authorisation for negotiations with Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Negotiations with Vietnam were launched in Hanoi in November 2007. Both sides initialled the PCA in Brussels on 4 October 2010. The PCA was signed in Brussels on 27 June 2012.

The PCA with Vietnam will supersede the current legal framework of the 1995 Agreement between the European Community and Vietnam and the 1980 Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was extended in 1999 to include Vietnam.

The PCA with Vietnam constitutes an important step towards enhanced political and economic involvement of the EU in South-East Asia. It covers the EU’s standard political clauses on human rights, International Criminal Court, weapons of mass destruction, small arms and light weapons and counter-terrorism.

The PCA strengthens the sectoral cooperation across a wide range of policy fields, such as taxation, migration, health, environment, climate change, energy, education and culture, labour, employment and social affairs, science and technology and transport. It also addresses legal cooperation, money laundering and terrorist financing, organised crime and corruption, and covers areas of particular interest to Vietnam such as cooperation on human rights and the rule of law, remnants of war and natural disaster prevention.

The PCA provides the basis for more effective engagement by the EU and its Member States with Vietnam in the development, trade and economic fields and will facilitate the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam. The conclusion of the PCA is in line with the EU's objective of creating a comprehensive and coherent economic and political framework for relations between the EU and ASEAN countries.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)924: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:924:FIN

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