CARGOCONNECT-MAY23 - Flipbook - Page 12
SANGUINE
I
n summer 2022, the
European Union (EU)
and India resumed negotiations on a free trade
agreement to strengthen
their strategic partnership. In addition, both
sides are negotiating an investment protection agreement and
an agreement on the protection of
geographical indications. In this
way, the EU wants to diversify
its relations with the Indo-Pacific
states and underscore India’s
prominent position. Through
cooperation with the EU, India
aims to advance its economic
and technological modernisation, which is indispensable if
the country is to play a greater
international role. Unlike the
negotiations that failed in 2013,
the current negotiations are paradoxically both simpler and more
complicated. They are simpler
because the EU and India are
now more aligned on geopolitical
issues than ever, especially with
regard to China. But they are also
more complicated because the
success of the negotiations still
depends on difficult concessions
12 | CARGOCONNECT MAY 2023
on both sides. A repeat failure
is not an option, however, for
either India or the EU in terms
of the future of their strategic
partnership.
STATUS QUO –
WHAT HAS HAPPENED
SO FAR?
Negotiations on a FTA had been
stalled since 2013. The reason
behind the same could be restrictions put on the Indian skilled
professionals to access the EU
market and high custom duty
imposed by the Indian Government on imported goods such as
automobiles, alcoholic beverages,
cheese etc. In order to establish a
harmonious relationship between
WHAT’S
STEALING
THE SHOW FOR
AN FTA TO
GAIN GROUND
BETWEEN
INDIA-EU?
both the parties, intensification
of European-Indian talks on a
political level has started at the
15th EU-India Summit 2020.
Subsequently, during the EUIndia Summit 2021, both sides
emphasised on India and the
EU becoming strong partners.
Being the world’s largest
democracy, India rightly sees
itself as a natural partner of
Western democracies. However
after the announcement of the
next steps, no further actions
were taken and no official news
about the same followed. However, it seems that the situation
is changing now as the EU and
India have agreed on three meetings this year to work out a basic
concept within the framework
acceptable to both parties. On
the basis of this framework, they
will try to conclude a deal and
hopefully sign a FTA.
EUROPEAN
PRESENCE IN INDIA
A total of approximately 4500
European, of which approx. 1700
German, companies are active on
the Indian market, creating close