EU team meets Piyush Goyal to discuss India-EU free trade agreement. Focus on steel, carbon tax, auto and market access.
The meeting is important as both sides are keen to conclude negotiations as soon as possible.
The team, led by EU Directorate-General for Trade Sabine Weyand, is there to iron out differences on issues relating to goods and services. They set a year-end deadline to conclude negotiations.
“The EU team will meet the minister on Monday,” the official said.
Differences which still need to be ironed out in certain areas such as steel, carbon tax, automobiles or non-tariff barriers.
In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA (free trade agreement), an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications after a hiatus of over eight years.
The project was blocked in 2013 due to differences in the level of market opening.
India’s bilateral merchandise trade with the EU stood at $136.53 billion in 2024-25 ($75.85 billion in exports and $60.68 billion in imports), making it the largest merchandise trading partner.
The EU market accounts for about 17 percent of India’s total exports, and the bloc’s exports to India constitute 9 percent of its total overseas shipments.
In addition to demanding significant reductions in tariffs on automobiles and medical devices, the EU wants reduced taxes on other products such as wine, spirits, meat, poultry, as well as a strong intellectual property regime.
Exports of Indian products to the EU, such as readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, steel, petroleum products and electrical machinery, can become more competitive if the deal is concluded.
Negotiations on the India-EU trade deal cover 23 policy areas or chapters, including trade in goods, services, investments, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, government procurement, dispute resolution, intellectual property rights and geographical indications.
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