EVFTA (VIETNAM – EU) GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR VIETNAM’S ECONOMY
Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is a new generation FTA between Vietnam and 28 EU member countries. EVFTA, together with the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), are the two FTAs with the widest range of commitments and the highest level of commitments from Vietnam so far.
On December 1, 2015, EVFTA officially ended discussion and on February 1, 2016, the agreement was published. On June 26, 2018, a new step of EVFTA was agreed. Accordingly, EVFTA is divided into two Agreements, one is the Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the other is the Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA); at the same time, officially ending the legal review process for EVFTA Agreement. On 8/2018, the legal review process for EVIPA was also completed.
The two agreements were signed on June 30, 2019. EVFTA and EVIPA were ratified by the European Parliament on February 12, 2020, and approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly on June 8, 2020. On March 30, 2020, the Council of Europe also approved EVFTA. For EVFTA, since the approval procedure has been completed, this Agreement will enter into force on August 1, 2020. For EVIPA, on the EU side, the Agreement will still need to be further ratified by the Parliament of all 27 EU member states (after the UK completes Brexit) to take effect.
Resources : WTO
