New Delhi: Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said there was substantial progress in concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU), and several key differences had narrowed after a series of “intense but very productive” engagements in Brussels.
Goyal met Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, as the two sides sought to accelerate work on the long-pending agreement aimed at deepening ties on trade, investment and employment.
“The discussions have significantly narrowed our outstanding issues and allowed us to create the framework that will help create a win-win situation for our economies,” Goyal said in a statement on social media platform
The minister was in Brussels for a two-day visit from October 27 to accelerate the conclusion of a comprehensive trade deal.
EU team visits India
Goyal said the EU negotiating team would visit India next week to take the dialogue forward.
Sefcovic said the talks had been “very intensive but also very constructive” and had created positive momentum in the progress of the India-EU free trade agreement. “We share a common goal: to fulfill the mandate given to us by President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Modi,” he said.
The European commissioner said the negotiations had resulted in “substantial progress in a number of areas”, with both delegations providing concrete guidance to their teams. A high-level EU delegation led by the director-general will visit New Delhi next week to continue technical discussions “beyond the area of tariffs”, he added.
For strategic direction
Goyal’s visit to Brussels was aimed at providing strategic direction and political impetus to the trade negotiations following the momentum generated by the 14th round of negotiations held earlier this month.
On October 16, Mint reported that the central government had asked its negotiating team, led by Special Secretary L. Satya Srinivas, to resolve outstanding issues in the FTA negotiations with the EU before returning to New Delhi, underscoring its keenness to conclude the deal by the end of the year.
At the heart of the dispute is the EU’s demand for stricter origin standards to ensure third-country products do not enter the bloc via India, particularly in sensitive categories such as agricultural products, spirits, wines and other geographically indicated products prized for their cultural and commercial value.
Another major point of friction between New Delhi and Brussels is the mutual acceptance of agricultural products. “We have significantly narrowed down the outstanding issues between the EU and India, and I must thank both teams for the significant progress made over the last three days,” Goyal said.
“I think the ongoing India-EU FTA negotiations have given us the opportunity to really create the framework that will help us in the long term, bring our two economies closer together and integrate them into a win-win relationship for the European Union and India,” he added.
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