New Delhi: India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday that there has been substantial progress on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) and several key differences have been narrowed after a series of “intense but very productive” talks in Brussels.
Goyal met Maros Šefčovič, the EU commissioner for trade and economic security, as the two sides sought to speed up work on a long-awaited pact aimed at deepening trade, investment and labor ties.
“The talks have significantly reduced our outstanding issues and allowed us to create a framework that will help our economies bring mutual benefits,” Goyal said in a statement on the X social media platform, adding that the discussions laid the foundation for a robust and balanced agreement to support businesses on both sides.
The minister was in Brussels on a two-day visit from October 27 to speed up the conclusion of a comprehensive trade agreement.
EU team to visit India
Goyal said the EU negotiating team will visit India next week to continue the dialogue.
Šefčovič said the talks were “very intense but also very constructive” and created a positive momentum for advancing the India-EU FTA. “We share a common goal to fulfill the mandate given to us by President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Modi,” he said.
The EU commissioner said the talks had produced “significant progress in a number of areas”, with both delegations giving specific instructions to their teams. A high-level EU delegation led by the director-general will travel to Delhi next week to continue technical discussions “beyond the tariff area,” he added.
For strategic direction
Goyal’s visit to Brussels was aimed at providing strategic direction and political impetus for the trade deal negotiations, following the momentum generated by the 14th round of talks held earlier this month.
On 16 October, Mint reported that the central government had directed its negotiating team, led by special secretary L. Satya Srinivas, to resolve outstanding issues in the FTA negotiations with the EU before returning to New Delhi, underscoring its push for a deal by the end of the year.
At the heart of the dispute is the EU’s demand for stricter standards of origin to ensure that goods from third countries do not enter the bloc via India, especially in sensitive categories such as agricultural products, spirits, wines and other products with GI status that are valued for their cultural and commercial value.
Another major issue between Delhi and Brussels is the mutual recognition of agricultural products. “We have significantly reduced the outstanding issues between the EU and India and I have to thank both teams for the significant progress made in the last three days,” Goyal said.
“I believe that the ongoing negotiations on the India-EU FTAs have given us an opportunity to really create a framework that will help us in the long term, bring our two economies together and bring them into a relationship that will be beneficial to the European Union and India,” he added.
