The European Parliament as a Catalyst for the European Community's Việt Nam Policy

The relations between the European Community and Việt Nam have been studied in particular since the diplomatic normalization in 1990. However, this key moment is the culmination of a long process that began in 1973 and had been unfolding since the start of the Cambodian conflict. The European Economic Community was torn between development and commercial diplomacy, which was intended to be more refined than the simple logic of a bloc in the times of the Cold War, and the deepening of relations with personalized Southeast Asia through ASEAN. Thus, the period from 1979 to 1990 is exciting, as it offers a clear vision of the different currents that struggled through community mechanisms to impose a Vietnamese policy in line with their aims. In these institutional movements, the European Parliament has increased pressure on the Commission and the Council using various levers. Through inter-party struggles, parliamentarians have had to justify their points of view and produce reports and strategic analyses that were very useful when reassessing the merits of community policy. Finally, this presentation will focus on how parliamentary activism and the underlying thinking on the strategy to adopt towards Việt Nam progressively led to the normalization of relations. The process has helped conceptualize and strengthen the European Union's Asia strategy by integrating Việt Nam as an essential link in its policy, in an ultra-dynamic region where the EU sought to avoid being marginalized.