PERSPECTIVE| FES VIETNAM Trade Union Pluralism Through Free Trade? Vietnam’s Trade Agreements with the EU and the US ERWIN SCHWEISSHELM November 2015 n On August 4, 2015, after two and a half years of negotiations, Vietnam and the European Union agreed on the text of a free trade agreement. Two months later, the trade ministers of twelve Asian and Pacific states initialled the text of the Trans­Pacific Partnership Agreement(TPP). n The United States and the European Union hold the view that the Vietnam-EU and TPP agreements not only concern dismantling tariffs and investment disincentives, but also guaranteeing social and ecological standards. n Whilst the EU leans towards an approach that closely resembles encouragement, the US, the biggest country in the TPP, insists that Vietnam not only grant concessions on the wording of the agreement, but also harmonise its labour and trade union legislation with International Labour Organization standards and beyond with im ­mediate effect. n Whether enforcement of standards will really take place or the labour chapter is just a placebo for the many critics of such free trade agreements remains to be seen. The experiences with the Central American Free Trade Agreement(2005) and the trade agreement between the EU and South Korea(2011) give more cause for scepticism.