By Brescia (Italy)
Negotiators of India and the European Union (EU) in free trade agreement (ALE) will beat the expectations of the main leaders on both sides and could conclude it before the end of the year. The Minister of Commerce, Puyush Goyal, held three meetings with his counterpart Maros Sefcovic on the pact in the last 35 days.
“We have held three meetings in 35 days. This shows our shared commitment to the FTA … We are trying to do so more quickly,” Goyal told journalists at the joint press conference with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antanio Tajani. The first two meetings between Goyal and Sefcovic took place on May 1 and 23 in Brussels. The third meeting took place on June 2 in Paris.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen had set the 2025 deadline for concluding the FTA.
He said that negotiation tours take place every month and between inter-session meetings are taking place. Every week. The EU normally maintains a 90 -day gap between two FTA negotiation cycles, but during the last stage of the negotiations, there is no release in contact.
Goyal said that after the FTA with the EU, India would have fully covered Europe, because the agreement with the United Kingdom has already been finalized and with the signed European Free Trade Association (Are). EFT covers Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
In June 2022, India and the EU block of 27 countries resumed negotiations for a complete free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographic indications after a difference of more than eight years. Until now, 11 cycles of negotiations on the agreement have been held.
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