The 8th meeting of the EU Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will take place on 10 November 2023.
On the agenda:
Adoption of the draft agenda
Approval of the minutes of the 7th EU DAG meeting, held on 18 September 2023
Introductory remarks by the Chair
Update from DG TRADE on the implementation of the TSD Chapter and information on the preparations of the meeting of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development and the Joint Forum
Mariella Cantagalli, DG TRADE
Follow-up of the desk study on "The relationship between EU and Vietnamese businesses in global supply chains - and global supply chains in the context of due diligence"
Discussion with Antoine Oger (Director of Research, IEEP), expert and author of the study
The future work of the EU-VN joint working-group on due diligence and of the new or renewed sub-groups of the DAG
Preparation of the joint meetings 2023 in Brussels (27-29 Nov)
The 7th meeting of the EU Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and the first meeting of the new 2023-25 term, will take place on 18 September 2023.
On the agenda:
Opening of the meeting and statement by the outgoing Chair, Judith Kirton-Darling
Update on the rules of procedure of the EU-Vietnam DAG
Tour de table – introduction of members of the DAG in its new composition
Election of chair and Vice Chairs
Statement by the incoming Chair
Desk study on "The relationship between EU and Vietnamese businesses in global supply chains - and global supply chains in the context of due diligence"
Comments by steering group members: Elena Suárez, Romain Lasserre, Perrine Fournier
Feedback on the meeting of the EU and the VN DAGs, held on 28 March 2023 in Brussels, in the framework of the VN DAG's visit to Europe organised by FES
Comments by Daniela Iller, FES
Human Rights' situation in Vietnam
Presentation by Penelope Faulkner, President of the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), member of FIDH
Update from DG TRADE on the implementation of the TSD Chapter
The Vietnam DAG members, invited to Brussels by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), will meet the EU DAG members on 28 March 2023. The overarching objective of the visit is capacity building. It will be 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 will also be a workshop on the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) with presentations of the institutional view.
This 6th meeting of the EU DAG for Vietnam will be the occasion for the members who participated at the joint meetings in Hanoi on 18-20 October to report back to the EU DAG, and for the EU DAG to reflect on how to follow-up on those meetings.
The European Commission's DG TRADE will report from the 2nd meeting of the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development and discuss the outcome of the Joint Forum with the EU DAG.
The EU DAG will also discuss with the expert how to take the desk study on supply chains further.
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.
During this meeting of the EU DAG for Vietnam, participants will discuss the situation on the ground and labour law reform in Vietnam in the light of the ratification of the ILO Conventions, in presence of a representative from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
It will likewise be an excellent opportunity for the EU DAG to receive a timely update from DG Trade on TSD-implementation and related issues, in particular the implementation of the labour rights roadmap, as well as information on the space for civil society in Vietnam.
The members of the EU DAG will also further exchange views on the experiences of their organisations with regard to TSD- issues in Vietnam.
Finally the drafting of a desk study on supply chains will be discussed.
DAG-to-DAG meetings allow for civil society organisations, members of the DAGs, involved on a regular basis in the monitoring exercises of the TSD chapter, to come together and exchange views on implementation issues. In this 1st DAG-to-DAG meeting under the EU‑Vietnam FTA, besides the preparations for the First EU-Vietnam Joint Forum with Civil Society of 12 November, which will be open to broader civil society participation, the members will most importantly get to know each other and exchange views on the work programme of the first mandate and consider possible common topics for future work.
At the occasion of the DAG-to-DAG meeting, a workshop will also be organized on the Greening of the economy and its impact on trade relations, followed by discussions.
This preparatory meeting is taking place ahead of the joint meetings with the Vietnamese counterparts scheduled for the second week of November. It will also give the EU DAG the opportunity to receive un update from DG Trade on the implementation of the FTA as well as a timely update on TSD-related issues and implementation.
As part of their preparation ahead of the joint meetings, the members of the EU DAG will present the papers drafted by the working groups within the work programme for the mandate 2020-2023.
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. Representatives from trade unions, business organisations, environmental groups and other civil society organisations are invited to the online public session of the Joint Forum under the Trade Agreement between the European Union and Vietnam. Participants will have the chance to exchange views on matters related to the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of the EU-Vietnam Trade Agreement.
