Towards Inclusive and Contextual Normative Power in Trade? : Postcolonial Analysis of the TSD Chapter in the EUVFTA

Abstract

In a post-western world, increasing normative diverges and weakening interdependences raise forward alternative normative realities. The European Union, as a global actor, has underlined the role of values and norms in its trade relations. Trade agreements are one of the most prominent foreign policy instruments of the European Union, and the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter of the trade agreements are the most focal instrument to diffuse values and norms. In 2002, Ian Manners brought forward a concept of the European Union as a normative power, which has received scrutiny from scholars over the years. The concept of normative power has evolved. In recent years, a critical postcolonialist approach has entered the framework. The objective of this thesis was a postcolonial analysis of a more inclusive and contextual concept of the normative power of the European Union and to critically examine the limits and applicability of the Normative Power Europe framework in the context of the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Vietnam. Vietnam is a former colony and diverges from the European Union in various ways, such as economic orientation and values. Thus, Vietnam provides a multivariate case study to discuss the normative power in trade. The empirical part of the thesis consists of the concept of Normative Power Europe, the normative framework surrounding the trade relations of the European Union, and the postcolonial criticism of Normative Power Europe. The thesis is a deconstructive reading of the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter. Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction compliments the theoretical framework of the thesis and the objective to explore the reciprocity of the trade relations between the European Union and Vietnam. According to Penny Griffin’s (2013) deconstruction strategy, the analysis is divided into three phases: contextualisation of the agreement, outlining the key assumptions, and outlining the arguments. The fourth phase of the analysis discusses the results of the first three phases in the context of Ian Manners' Normative Power Europe. The results of the analysis indicate that the normative power of the European Union is dependent on three narratives: historicism, the universality of knowledge production, and economic status. The interrelations between the European Union and Vietnam are asymmetric and hierarchical, but Vietnam can be perceived as an active agency. The findings indicate that in trade relations, the normative power of the European Union relies on the neocolonial narratives and economic and global status. In the absence of the narratives, the European Union would most likely rely more on economic and global status in norm diffusion and thus be more of a civilian power than a normative power.