Representatives from 27 member countries of the European Union (EU) approved the signing of a partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) with Vietnam at the EU Foreign Ministers Meeting, on May 14 in Brussels , Belgium .

Consisting of 8 chapters and 65 articles, the PCA defines basic principles in Vietnam-EU relationships, while specifying a comprehensive cooperation framework in various fields, including trade, investment, judiciary, peacekeeping and international security.

The PCA, which was initialled by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and European Council President José Manuel Barroso in October, 2010 after two years of negotiations, is expected to bring the Vietnam-EU relationship into a new period of greater cooperation.-VNA