EU and India agree to restart long-standing trade talks Business and Economic News

The European Union and India have agreed to restart stalled free trade negotiations and seek closer cooperation in tackling climate change at the virtual meeting, as concerns about China bring Brussels and New Delhi closer together.

Covered in part by India’s COVID-19 crisis, Saturday’s meeting brought together Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all 27 leaders of the bloc for the first time in eight years to demonstrate the EU’s new interest in the Indo-Pacific region. .

In the past, only the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Executive and President of the EU have attended EU and Indian summits.

“It will meet the current challenges … we agreed to restart negotiations for a trade agreement,” EU and Indian leaders said in a statement after the talks, adding that for the talks to succeed the two sides must resolve market entry problems.

In parallel, the EU and India will launch a special investment protection agreement and an agreement on geographical indications – famous brands are linked to places where they are often made, from French champagne to Darjeeling tea in India.

“There is a close relationship between the EU and India but also a lot of untapped potential,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “The untapped potential lies in trade and investment.”

The fact that China is a good trading partner and a power of opposition with a growing military presence has worried the West and its allies in the Indo-Pacific, where Brussels wants more influence.

“We agreed that, being the two largest democracies in the world, the EU and India have a common interest in ensuring security, prosperity and sustainable development at a multi-world pole,” the joint statement said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the resumption of talks.

“Negotiations have also been stopped many times and I am glad that they have now started again,” he said after an informal EU summit.

He said he hoped the work could move forward “at a much faster pace”.

In 2013, EU-India trade talks froze due to tariff reductions, patent protection, data security and inequalities in the right of Indian professionals to work in Europe.

Today’s meeting was a milestone in the ???????????????? relationship.

We agreed to start negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement again!

In parallel, we will launch negotiations on an EU-India Investment Protection Agreement and Geographical Indications. pic.twitter.com/FwA35u4G6K

– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 8, 2021

Competition with China

The leaders of the bloc, at an EU summit in Porto, Portugal, pressured the Modi government to oppose dissent, including civil society groups such as Amnesty International holding candlelight ceremonies outside the summit headquarters.

Prior to the talks, Amnesty International called on EU leaders to encourage Modi to “live” the shared values.

“Intolerance of dissent has been a feature of Prime Minister Modi’s tenure in office,” said Eve Geddie, director of the EU office of the rights group.

A study by the European Parliament in 2020 put the benefits of a trade agreement with India with the EU at 8.5 trillion euros ($ 10.2 billion), even though the estimate was made before the UK left the bloc.

The EU and India also agreed to build joint infrastructure projects around the world, especially in Africa, to be considered as connectivity partnerships.

The deal follows an EU-Japan Belt and Road Initiative (BIS) infrastructure strategy that sparked suspicions in the West and Tokyo in 2019 following an agreement between the EU and Japan.

The two sides also stepped up cooperation to limit climate change. According to the statement, the EU and India will hold meetings to work on renewable energy, energy storage technologies and the modernization of electricity networks.