Europe is increasing the regulatory burden on businesses, says Piyush Goyal | Today’s news
The Hague: India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday that Europe is increasing the regulatory burden on businesses as the global economy seeks simpler rules and greater freedom to operate.
“We are deregulating. It is sad that you have to learn from us. With Europe increasing the regulatory burden on businesses. I tell you, whenever I say that, I become the darling of the business world. In your countries,” Goyal said at the India-Dutch Business Forum in The Hague.
On an official visit to the Netherlands, Goyal also described India as a trusted partner for businesses and said the country does not steal data, technology or ideas.
His remarks followed a visit to Germany last week, where he said European manufacturers would need trusted partner countries to produce goods that are increasingly expensive to produce in Europe. He also called out the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a carbon cost on certain carbon-intensive imports, calling it a “benign disaster”.
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Goyal said businesses around the world want less compliance, simpler processes and less paperwork. “Because it really is, the world wants deregulation. The world wants more freedom to operate. The business world is looking for less compliance burden. Simpler processes. Simpler procedures. Less paperwork. And we can do it.”
His comments come as India continues its Jan Vishwas initiative, which aims to make business and life easier by replacing criminal penalties for minor, technical and procedural violations with monetary penalties, warnings or administrative action.
EU defends carbon tax
Dutch Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma defended the European Commission’s approach, saying it was pursuing an agenda of deregulation while maintaining the rules needed to protect consumers. However, regulations that were unnecessary and impeded trade needed review, he said.
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Sjoerdsma also ruled out a review of the CBAM, calling it an essential tool to ensure the world adheres to the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
India has secured commitments including a forward-looking most-favoured-nation clause assurance that any flexibility granted to a third country under the CBAM would also be extended to India.
Business and trust
The India-EU trade agreement is expected to be signed by the end of the calendar year, with implementation planned for spring next year.
“We hope that it will be signed in December, and we hope that the implementation will follow as soon as possible, preferably the next day, but we all know that it takes a little more than that. So I don’t have a crystal ball for the exact date, but hopefully it will be implemented in the spring of next year. In the spring of next year. But preferably sooner,” Sjoerdsma told reporters.
India-EU trade in goods totaled €118.4 billion in 2025, with the bloc importing €69.5 billion worth of goods from India and exporting €48.9 billion to India. Annual bilateral trade in goods and services was EUR 180 billion.
Goyal also highlighted India’s energy infrastructure and its attractiveness as a target for data center investment, linking the country’s scale to its position as a trusted business partner.
“Today we sit on the world’s second largest single national grid… One grid with 70% clean energy provides a huge opportunity for data centers, for example. And we are a trusted nation. We don’t steal data, we don’t steal technology, we don’t steal ideas,” he said.
“The new global growth equation will be shaped by countries that combine scale with confidence, technology with inclusion and ambition with responsibility,” Goyal added.
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Bilateral trade between India and the Netherlands, meanwhile, fell 16.2% to $23.26 billion in fiscal year 2026 (FY26) from $27.75 billion in the previous year. India recorded a trade surplus of US$ 11.74 billion with exports worth US$ 17.5 billion.
Sjoerdsma said closer ties between the two countries are increasingly important as global trade has become more politicized and unpredictable.
“I think it’s also important that we put the relationship between the Netherlands and India in that global context, because if you look around, trade has become more politicized, it’s become more unpredictable, and that means if you want to build on this relationship, if you want to strengthen your economic relationship, if you want to strengthen trade, you have to increase the level of trust. And I think nothing speaks to trust better than the ongoing strategic partnership that we have.”
Ramita Mishra contributed to this story.
The writer is in The Hague as a guest of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
