The Minister of the Union and the Minister of Industry, Piyush Goyal, said Tuesday that negotiations between India and the European Union on a free trade agreement (ALE) progressed well, with more than half of the chapters already concluded.“I think the main negotiators work to converge on different parts of the agreement. Almost 60% of the chapters are finished and finalized,” Goyal told Ani.
The Minister also added that at the time of “the EU trade commissioner and the EU food commissioner arrive in India, we will be ready to try to conclude the agreement considerably.”The European Commerce Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and the agriculture and food commissioner Christophe Hansen should visit New Delhi on September 12 and 13 to conduct future discussions. They will hold meetings with the Goyal Minister aimed at accelerating AFT talks and deepening economic cooperation.The EU Embassy in India confirmed the visit to an X position, claiming: “On September 12 to 13, the EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic and the agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen will be in town to meet Minister Piyush Goyal, take stock and power in business links in India and connect with the main players.”Goyal is expected to meet the European Union trade commissioner on Friday, said a government official. The meeting will follow the 13th cycle of negotiations, which resumed on Monday, reported Anima. Meanwhile, the Commercial Partnership and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) of the European Union (EFTA) Association of the European Union (EFTA) is likely to come into force later this year, once all the Member States end their ratification procedures.In addition, German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul also underlined the support of the agreement. During talks with Eam S Jaishankar, Wadephul promised Germany support by putting pressure on the European Commission to finalize the ALE.“Germany fully supports this agreement, negotiated as soon as possible,” he said. “We are a free trade nation … The EU works (the agreement with) India is the most important for us. I really hope we can succeed. “He also added: “You can be assured that we will use all the arguments we have with the Commission to put this forward and reach a level between our countries and between the EU and India on this subject.”
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