9. Calls on the EU and Vietnam to agree in the FTA on a fair and equitable treatment of all investors and services providers in the banking, insurance, legal, accounting, transport, and distribution services, including both retail and wholesale sectors; recalls that as regards financial services, it is also essential to ensure adequate policy space to reduce systemic risk, fight money laundering, and provide the highest possible level of consumer protection, as well as to enforce fair competition rules and practices between domestic and foreign investors and service providers, inter alia by reducing, if not fully eliminating, existing e ...[+++]quity caps and abolishing restrictions on establishment and licence acquisition; recommends that the Commission negotiates strong and binding provisions on transparency and fair competition so that a level playing field also applies between private businesses and state-owned enterprises (SOEs);

10. Calls on the EU and Vietnam to agree in the FTA on a fair and equitable treatment of all investors and services providers in the banking, insurance, legal, accounting, transport, and distribution services, including both retail and wholesale sectors; recalls that as regards financial services, it is also essential to ensure adequate policy space to reduce systemic risk, fight money laundering, and provide the highest possible level of consumer protection, as well as to enforce fair competition rules and practices between domestic and foreign investors and service providers, inter alia by reducing, if not fully eliminating, existing ...[+++]equity caps and abolishing restrictions on establishment and licence acquisition; recommends that the Commission negotiates strong and binding provisions on transparency and fair competition so that a level playing field also applies between private businesses and state-owned enterprises (SOEs);

I. whereas the international arms trade is considered by Transparency International to be one of the three most corrupt businesses in the world; whereas investigations by the Bonn International Conversion Centre have revealed that in Germany in 2011, for example, 5 149 of the 17 568 arms export licences issued, or just under 30 %, for export to 76 countries, allegedly violated one or more of the eight criteria;

It seems to me that there the Commission is labouring somewhat to recognise Parliament’s role in international trade – even though much effort has been made, for which we are grateful to the Commissioner – and Parliament certainly needs to have a stronger voice on anti-dumping as well.

This is due to their limited internal market and the weak development of their economies, which affects the competitiveness of the region’s countries; it is difficult for their enterprises to make economies of scale, which makes them more vulnerable to market fluctuations and foreign investment, and in addition makes internal change expensive.

Collectively, the Balance of Payments Manual of the International Monetary Fund, the Guideline of the European Central Bank (ECB) of 2 May 2003 on the statistical reporting requirements of the European Central Bank in the field of balance of payments and international investment position statistics, and the international reserves template , the Manual on statistics of international trade in services of the United Nations, and the OECD Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment, define the general rules for compiling statistics ...[+++]on balance of payments, international trade in services, and foreign direct investment.