New-Generation Trade Agreements and Their Importance to Trade Relations Between European Union and Third Countries – Vietnam Case

Abstract

This work aims to show key provisions and importance of new-generation trade agreements made by the European Union on the example of the agreement with Vietnam. Empirical research centred around an agreement signed between the EU and Vietnam, which is the third new-generation trade agreement entered into by the EU with an Asian country, following an agreement with the Republic of Korea and Singapore. The agreement with Vietnam introduced liberalisation covering almost the entire mutual trade (goods), also providing for the liberalisation of services and eliminating certain non-tariff barriers. Due to a word limit applicable to this article, the research into the importance of the agreement to the EU-Vietnam trade relations was limited mainly to trade in goods. Having considered the fact that relatively too short period of time has elapsed since the entry into force of the agreement, it is not possible to comprehensively assess its importance to bilateral trade relations, especially in a long-term perspective. Such research should be continued in the future. In particular, this concerns research into the effects of liberalisation of mutual trade after the end of transition periods applicable to the elimination of barriers to trade – seven years for the European Union and ten years for Vietnam respectively. Following more than a year since the signature of the agreement, it can be claimed that the EU’s imports from Vietnam have increased considerably, which not only led to the greater negative balance of mutual trade, but also resulted in greater trade volumes for selected goods, and consequently, this may entail the elimination of certain barriers to mutual trade on the entry into force of the agreement. In this article, a descriptive and comparative method was employed, domestic and foreign literature sources were used and the provisions of the EU-Vietnam agreement and legal acts of the EU secondary legislation in the form of regulations were referred to.