Key EU panel reaching India for trade talks ahead of Dec-end FTA deadline

NEW  new delhi: Members of a francis scott key venire of the European unification (EU) testament visit India next week for discussions aimed at pushing the conclusion of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), with a little more than two months to go for the deadline set by the leadership of both sides to conclude the deal.The delegation of seven members of the EU Committee on International Trade will be in India on October 27-29 to discuss trade, economic and investment relations. The team will be led by Cristina Maestre, the committee’s standing rapporteur for India, and Brando Benifei.“The main objective of this visit is to contribute to increasing our mutual understanding amid intensive trade negotiations between the EU and India. The mission is timely, taking place just a few months ahead of the deadline to conclude negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement by the end of 2025,” Maestre and Benifei said in a statement ahead of the visit.“We look forward to discussing the issues at stake as both sides have a mutual interest in reaching a meaningful bilateral agreement and in protecting the rules-based multilateral trade order,” they said.The delegation of European Parliament members will engage with various stakeholders during the visit to gather first-hand information on the opportunities and challenges posed by the trade negotiations.The committee’s members are set to meet ministerial and parliamentary officials, as well as the Federation of European Business in India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). They will also meet civil society bodies working on sustainability issues, representatives of workers and employers and organisations working on labour rights.The International Trade Committee has been scrutinising the India-EU trade negotiations and any agreement reached will be subject to the consent of the European Parliament.India and the EU concluded the 14th round of FTA negotiations in Brussels on October 10, with the discussions focused on core pillars of the proposed agreement and with the aim of getting closer to an “economically meaningful market access package”, the EU said in an assessment of the round.“Some progress was made in outstanding areas, in particular on the SPS chapter, which was closed,” it said, adding that there were also discussions on rules of origin.“At this stage, discussions at technical level will now take the form of a continuous intensive engagement at Chief Negotiators’ level, with the participation of relevant experts, both in virtual and in-person format, rather than fully fledged rounds. Intensive engagement at political level will also continue,” the EU said.During a visit to India with the EU College of Commissioners in February, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed to conclude the FTA negotiations by the year-end. In recent months, negotiations have gained in importance and momentum due to the uncertainty caused by the US’s trade and tariff policies.India is the EU’s 9th largest trading partner, accounting for 2.2% of the EU’s total trade in goods in 2023. The EU is India’s largest trading partner, accounting for €124 billion in goods trade in 2023, or 12.2% of India’s total trade. Trade in services between the two sides totalled €59.7 billion in 2023.