Free Trade Agreement: India, EU to resume FTA talks from June 27

Sources told FE that after a hiatus of nearly nine years, India and the EU will resume much-awaited talks for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) from June 27, as both sides eye a deal by the next fiscal year. Huh.

Ahead of the talks, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is likely to visit Brussels later this month – either before the next WTO ministerial beginning on June 12, or after – to set the stage for the talks. To, said one of the sources. “The EU team will then visit India to formally resume talks,” he said.

Sources said last week that the two sides would first take stock of the progress made so far and discuss how to proceed. One of the sources had said, “It makes sense to focus on the points of convergence before moving on to the contentious matters.”

Formal talks between the two sides for the FTA were stalled after 16 rounds of talks between 2007 and 2013 over huge differences. The European Union insisted that India cancel or reduce heavy import duties on sensitive products such as automobiles, alcoholic beverages and dairy products, and is open. Up Legal Services.

Similarly, India’s demand includes, among others, greater access to the EU market for its skilled professionals. However, both the sides have now decided to take the talks to their logical conclusion.

The European Union, even after Brexit, remained India’s largest export destination (as a bloc) in FY22, although it has lost some appeal. The country’s outbound shipments to the European Union grew 57% in fiscal 2012 to $65 billion, albeit on a contractual basis. Similarly, its imports from the European Union grew by 29.4% to $51.4 billion in the last fiscal.

In April, the EU and India decided to set up a Trade and Technology Council to boost bilateral ties, as the bloc’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, met with the prime minister. Narendra Modi Here. The move underscored the growing cooperation between New Delhi and Brussels, as the US is the only country to have a technical agreement with the European Union, as it is now signed with India. The objective of the Council is to provide political-level monitoring of the entire spectrum of India-EU relations and ensure close coordination.

India signed an FTA with the United Arab Emirates in February, New Delhi’s first such agreement with any economy in a decade, and another trade deal with Australia in April. Currently, it is also negotiating FTAs ​​with the UK and Canada. The Gulf Cooperation Council has also indicated signing an FTA with India.

The talks are a part of India’s broader strategy to forge “fair and balanced” trade agreements with major economies and reform existing agreements to boost trade. The move gained momentum after India withdrew from the China-dominated RCEP talks in November 2019.