Trade agreements are a key component of the EU's trade policy. On 12 February, MEPs approved free trade and investment protection agreements with Vietnam. Following Vietnam’s ratification of the trade deal on 8 June, it will take effect by the end of summer 2020.

In February 2019, MEPs voted in favour of EU-Singapore trade and investment protection deals, which will eliminate nearly all tariffs within five years. A few months before that MEPs also approved a major trade agreement and a strategic partnership with Japan.

The importance of trade agreements

Trade agreements are very important to the EU as they are a key driver of economic growth. In 2018 the EU was the world's second biggest exporter of goods (15.5%) after China (15.8%) but ahead of the US (10.6%). It was also the second largest importer (13.7%) after the US 15.8%) but ahead of China (13.0%) in 2018. New trade agreements create new business opportunities for European companies, leading to more jobs being created, while consumers can look forward to more choice and lower prices.

There are concerns that trade agreements can lead to job losses in some sectors due to the increased competition, but these deals always create more jobs than they destroy. Another concern is that they could lead to high quality standards for products such as food being watered down. However, as the EU represents such a large market, it is in a good position to impose its standards on foreign companies.

For MEPs, quality standards are always a red line in trade agreements and any attempt to lower them could be a reason for them to reject them. In addition EU negotiators often include clauses regarding human rights and labour rights in trade agreements to help improve the situation in the country we are trading with