From Paper to Practice: Assessing the Implementation of Democracy-related Provisions in EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)

This paper investigates the implementation of democracy-related provisions in European Union (EU) preferential trade agreements (PTAs), using the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) as an in-depth case study. Addressing a notable gap in the literature, the study shifts analytical focus from treaty design to post-ratification practice, examining the extent to which democracy-related commitments are operationalized and how their implementation is shaped by the EU’s strategic priorities and partner countries’ domestic contexts. It proposes a process-oriented framework encompassing four stages, namely legislative reform, administration, compliance, and enforcement, and applies it across six dimensions of democracy-related provisions: general objectives, individual rights (with emphasis on labour standards), transparency, stakeholder participation, and policy space. Drawing on fieldwork interviews conducted in Hanoi and Brussels, alongside secondary sources, the analysis highlights Vietnam as a challenging case, combining autocratic governance with increasing trade openness and high geopolitical relevance. The findings reveal limited substantive implementation. Although Vietnam adopted selected formal reforms, including the 2019 Labour Code revision and certain transparency measures, compliance remained largely procedural. Core democracy-related commitments such as enabling independent trade unions and ensuring genuine civil society participation were deprioritized or circumvented, with the government invoking “right to regulate” provisions and interpreting labour obligations as non-binding. EU enforcement was similarly restrained. Despite clear non-compliance, EU responses were modest and symbolic, with technical assistance centred on trade facilitation rather than democratic governance. This cautious stance reflected broader economic and geopolitical considerations, particularly the EU’s interest in strengthening ties with Vietnam amid regional competition. Overall, the paper demonstrates that the transformative potential of democracy-related provisions in PTAs is constrained not only by partner country resistance but also by the EU’s own selective enforcement and competing strategic interests. The EVFTA case challenges assumptions about EU normative power, showing that democracy promotion through trade remains limited in contexts of low domestic willingness, restricted civil society space, and high geopolitical stakes.