India, EU Teams Engaged To Resolve Contentious Issues Of FTA, Says

Indian and EU teams are in constant engagement to resolve the remaining contentious issues in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) ahead of the visit of the top EU leadership to India later this month, an official said on Wednesday.

The India-EU Summit will be held on January 27 in New Delhi, and the top EU leadership will grace the Republic Day parade as the chief guest on January 26.

Recently, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a two-day meeting with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic in Brussels to review the progress of negotiations.

These continuous engagements are important, as both sides are looking to conclude the negotiations at the earliest.

'Both sides are in constant engagement to resolve the remaining contentious issues,' the official said. These issues include the EU's carbon tax and duty cuts on certain goods.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal will also meet his EU counterpart, Director General for Trade of the European Commission Sabine Weyand, in Brussels on January 6-7. So far, 16 rounds of negotiations have been held.

India is pushing for zero-duty access for its labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles and leather. On the other hand, the EU is demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles, medical devices, wine, spirits, meat, poultry, and a strong intellectual property regime.

In June 2022, India and the EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications after a gap of over nine years. The talks were stalled in 2013 due to differences on the level of opening up markets.

India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $136.53 billion in 2024-25 (exports worth $75.85 billion and imports worth $60.68 billion), making it the largest trading partner for goods.

The EU market accounts for about 17% of India's total exports, and the bloc's exports to India constitute 9% of its total overseas shipments.

The India-EU trade pact negotiations cover 23 policy areas or chapters, including trade in goods, services, investment, trade remedies, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, competition, government procurement, dispute settlement, intellectual property rights, geographical indications, and sustainable development.

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