In its 13th meeting, the EU DAG for Vietnam was updated on the current situation in Vietnam following the administrative restructuring. Information was also given on various EU-funded projects in the country. The main discussion covered the state of play of the implementation of the TSD Chapter. Moreover, the DAG discussed the state of labour rights and assessment of the new Trade Union Law in the region.
During the meeting, the EU DAG will receive an update from the European Commission's DG TRADE on EU-Vietnam FTA trade statistics and the implementation of the TSD chapter, as well as a report on the Joint Forum on Trade and Sustainable Development held in November 2024. Furthermore, EU DAG members will exchange with the European Parliament's standing rapporteur on Vietnam. Important features of the meeting will be the Commission’s assessment of the Vietnam Workers’ complaint to the Single Entry Point (SEP) and a discussion with the ILO.
The 11th meeting of the EU Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) under the EU-Vietnam FTA took place on 4 December 2024. The objective of the meeting was to follow up on the Joint Forum and plan the work of the DAG forward.
This second part of the EU DAG meeting focused on the human rights situation. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development, reported on his recent visit to the country and presented his report, and the ILO made a presentation englobing the labour rights situation. The EEAS gave an update on general EU-Vietnam relations including the outcome of the annual joint meeting under the partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA). In the light of the above, the EU DAG members further discussed the implementation of the TSD chapter in the presence of the European Commission.
During the meeting, the EU DAG received an update from the European Commission's DG TRADE on EU-Vietnam trade relations in general and on the implementation of the TSD chapter of the EU-Vietnam FTA in particular, as well as information from DG INTPA on EU international cooperation and projects in Vietnam. EU DAG members reported back from various events, including EuroCham's Green Economy Forum & Exhibition (GEFE) 2024 and the EU-ASEAN Business Council's visit to Hanoi.
During the meeting, DG Trade updated the EU DAG on the EU-Vietnam FTA in general and on the implementation of the TSD-chapter in particular. The EU DAG discussed main challenges for companies related to due diligence legislation and how to take the work of the DAG on this topic further, the space for civil society in Vietnam based on the presentation of a recent report on Directive 24, and the issue of cat and dog meat trade and consumption in Vietnam from a health perspective. The members also exchanged views on the DAG's priorities for this mandate.
The 3rd meeting of the EU and the Vietnam Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), "DAG-to-DAG meeting", established under the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, took place on 27-28 November 2023. The event started with a workshop on Improving workers' rights and access to remedy and grievance mechanisms, and the agenda of the meeting itself included discussions on due diligence, on the situation for small coffee producers and farmers in Vietnam, on the implementation of the Vietnamese Work Plan on Labour Rights and the state of play of the ratification of ILO fundamental conventions by the EU member states and Vietnam, on the right to association as an essential element of chapter 13, and on aquaculture welfare and responsible and sustainable fisheries.
The Vietnam DAG members, invited to Brussels by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), met the EU DAG members on 28 March 2023. The overarching objective of the visit was capacity building. It was an occasion for the members to exchange views on topical issues and on the work of the respective DAGs since the joint meetings in October 2022.
There was also a workshop on the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) with presentations of the institutional view.
The 2nd meeting of the EU and the Vietnam Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), so called DAG-to-DAG meeting established under the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, took place on 18 October 2022. This was the first time the members of the respective DAGs met in person, and they exchanged views on the work of the DAGs since the last online meeting in 2021 and discussed the ratification of ILO conventions and global supply chains in the context of due diligence. You may find here the Joint statement. There was also a workshop on the energy transition and the preparations for COP-27.
The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) envisages that DAG members of each Party meet together at a Civil Society Forum to conduct a dialogue encompassing sustainable development aspects of trade relations between the Parties.
