Next round of talks between India, EU likely in September
On June 17, 2022, India and the EU formally resumed negotiations on proposed agreement, after a gap of over 8 years
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New Delhi: Senior officials of India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) are expected to hold the next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement, which aims at boosting commerce and investments, in September, an official said.
Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain said that the eighth round of talks was concluded on June 28. He said that discussions were held on all 21 chapters in the meeting and progress was made in number of areas such as government procurement, digital trade, technical barriers to trade, goods, and market access. “We plan to hold more inter-sessional meetings in July and August and we intend to have another round (of talks) in the last week of September,” Jain told reporters here.
On June 17, 2022, India and the EU formally resumed negotiations on the proposed agreement, after a gap of over eight years. They are negotiating Trade and Investment Agreement, and a pact on Geographical Indications (GI). India had started negotiations for a trade pact with the EU in 2007, but the talks stalled in 2013 as both sides failed to reach an agreement on key issues, including customs duties on automobiles and spirits and the movement of professionals. The trade agreement with the EU would help India further expand and diversify its exports of goods and services, including securing the value chains. India’s merchandise exports to EU member countries have increased to USD 75.92 billion in 2023-24 from USD 74.83 billion in 2022-23.
