India & EU resume talks on free trade agreement after 9 years; first meeting on 27 June

After nearly nine years, India and the European Union (EU), on Friday, re-launched negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA), the Ministry of Commerce & Industry informed in a statement. “Negotiations today resumed for an EU India trade deal,” European Commission’s Executive Vice-President, informing about the same, wrote on Twitter. The trade talks were formally kick-started by India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice-president of the European Commission at an event organised at the European Union headquarters in Brussels on June 17. 

Reinvigorating India-EU trade ties

India and European Union fostered talks to launch the stand-alone Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) and a Geographical Indicators (GIs) Agreement. The first round of discussions is expected to begin in New Delhi on June 27. A consensus was reached between India and the EU to resume trade talks at a meeting held in Porto on 8 May 2021.

The groundwork to reinvigorate trade ties that languished for years was also established during European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's visit to New Delhi in April 2022, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Europe. The talks for FTA were stalled after India questioned the European Union’s unilateral ban of about 700 pharmaceutical products that were clinically tested in India. 

"Both partners are now resuming the FTA talks after a gap of about nine years since the earlier negotiations were left off in 2013 due to difference in the scope and expectations from the deal," India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in the statement issued on Friday. 

European Union Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis had earlier last month announced that India and Europe will formally launch negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement "very soon”.  India's Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam in April had also indicated that the stagnant talks between India and the 27-nation European Union (EU) will likely resume in June. The free-trade agreement (FTA) and a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) will help India’s integration into the world economy, diversify and secure the supply chains, boost economic opportunities for businesses, and fetch significant benefits on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” vision.