India, EU to re-launch negotiations for Free Trade Agreement after nine year lull
After a nine year lull, India and European Union are to re-launch negotiations for India-EU Free Trade Agreement. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission have also announced the launch of negotiations for an Investment Protection Agreement and a Geographical Indicators (GI) Agreement at a joint event at the EU headquarters at Brussels.
Among the most significant FTAs for India as EU is its 2nd largest trading partner, India-EU merchandise trade registered an all-time high value of 116.36 Billion US dollars in 2021-22 with a year-on growth of 43.5 per cent.
The Delhi visit of the European Commission President Ms. Ursula von der Leyen in April this year and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Europe accelerated the FTA discussions and helped in defining a clear roadmap for the negotiations.
There will also be discussions on resolving the Market Access Issues which are impeding the bilateral trade. The first round of negotiations for all the three agreements will be held from 27th June to 1st July in New Delhi.
Earlier this year, India concluded FTAs with Australia and the UAE in a record time. The FTA talks with Canada and the UK are also underway. The FTA negotiations are part of India’s broader strategy to forge balanced trade agreements with key economies and revamp existing trade pacts to improve trade and investment.
