Debate: EU-India future trade and investment cooperation
Date: MONDAY, 4 JULY 2022
Speaker: Helena Dalli
Language: EN

EU-India trade negotiations were formally relaunched in Brussels on 17 June by EU Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis and Indian Commerce Minister Goyal. They also launched separate negotiations on an investment agreement, and another on geographical indications. A first round of negotiations covering all three tracks already took place in New Delhi last week, with two additional rounds to be held before the end of the year. Furthermore, during her visit to India in April, Commission President von der Leyen agreed with Prime Minister Modi to establish an EU-India Trade and Technology Council. These separate yet complementary developments point at the intensification and deepening of the strategic partnership between the EU and India. In this context, the Commission welcomes the solid and comprehensive report prepared by Parliament. The Commission is also grateful for the report’s support to its approach to EU-India trade and investment relations, particularly regarding the three strands of negotiations. The aim of the bilateral negotiations is to maximise the considerable trade and investment potential between the EU and India, which remains largely untapped. Liberalising trade and investment will generate opportunities for growth and job creation, including in areas going beyond trade in goods, notably services, digital trade, intellectual property and public procurement. We also aim to contribute to securing our supply chains, promoting our values, protecting the climate, and to promote high environmental and labour standards. To this end, the Commission seeks to negotiate ambitious and comprehensive agreements. The first round of talks took place on the basis of an EU negotiation text for 18 FTA chapters, as well as texts for investment protection and geographical indications. All our state of the art, the trade texts, which will shortly be made public, cover the broad scope of issues sought by Parliament. The Commission also aims to negotiate ambitious and legally binding disciplines on trade and sustainable development. However, we have not yet shared a proposal for trade and sustainable development as we were waiting for the outcome of the Trade and Sustainable Development Review. We would expect a trade and sustainable development text to be discussed at the next round. On top of this, the Investment Protection Agreement should significantly increase investor confidence on both sides. We are confident that this will lead to increases in foreign direct investment in both directions. The EU and India also share a similar approach when it comes to protecting geographical indications. Once concluded, the Geographical Indications Agreement will support rural communities and help preserve the cultural and culinary heritage of both sides. Our recent contacts with India at all levels point at a more positive Indian attitude towards trade liberalisation than in the past. This is confirmed by the recent conclusion by India of trade agreements with Australia and the United Arab Emirates. This is also confirmed by India’s willingness to engage on long-standing market access issues in parallel with the trade negotiations, with the aim of solving some of them. Therefore, conditions for a successful outcome are more favourable than in 2013, when we had to suspend the negotiations due to a gap of ambition between the two sides. Nonetheless, we must be both constructive and realistic. These negotiations are a challenging endeavour which will require strong political leadership on both sides. Yet we need to seize the moment. There is increased convergence and joint interest between the EU and India at the economic, strategic and geopolitical levels, and both sides have a clear interest in deepening their strategic partnership. So, in line with the European Parliament’s report, the Commission will work towards concluding trade, investment protection and geographical indication agreements that are ambitious and comprehensive. So your report will be a point of reference for the Commission in its efforts. I thank you again for your support.