Govt to Brief Parliamentary Panel on EU-India Trade Talks

Fast Summary

• European Union (EU) trade negotiators are in delhi for preparatory meetings aimed at fast-tracking Free Trade Agreement (FTA) discussions between India and teh EU, with plans to finalize the deal by end-2025 or early 2026.
• Parliamentary consultative committee members will be briefed on contentious issues like agricultural market access and non-tariff barriers such as the EU’s Carbon border Adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
• India’s previous FTA attempts with the U.S. collapsed over agricultural commodities, genetically modified crops, and Russia-related debates.
• Recent milestones include an FTA signed with Nordic countries going into effect October 1 and a finalized agreement with the United Kingdom. These avoided including agriculture or visas to focus on other areas of consensus.
• A 28-member Political and Security Committee delegation from the EU is visiting Delhi from September 10-14,pushing for greater Indian involvement in Ukraine conflict resolution and reducing Russian oil exports processed by Indian refineries.
• The U.S.’s recent tariff on Indian exports due to Russian oil policies highlights geopolitical sensitivities impacting trade deals globally while creating potential complications for India-EU FTA talks as well.
• Negotiators have concluded approximately half of 23-24 chapters in the FTA; dairy products have been excluded along with “some” agricultural items.
• Concerns raised by India include compliance costs related to emerging EU regulations like CBAM, deforestation controls, foreign subsidy rules, and due diligence requirements.

Source Note: Government briefings are set on September 10; follow-up visits include talks starting September 12 led by European officials Maros Sefcovic and Christophe Hansen.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The accelerated push toward concluding an India-EU Free Trade Agreement reflects mutual ambition but is influenced heavily by geopolitical complexities tied to Ukraine relations and competing regulatory standards impacting global commerce. While stakes remain high given unresolved disagreements-especially India’s opposition to CBAM-the cautious exclusion of sectors like agriculture in current FTAs suggests pragmatic prioritization over broad consensus ambitions.

India’s external positioning could face pressure amid simultaneous U.S.-imposed tariff escalations tied directly to Russian oil associations-highlighting how intertwined trade negotiations now stand within larger geopolitical frameworks.Unlike recent agreements such as India’s FTA with Nordic nations focused away from visas/agriculture seeking approachable middle-ground sub-sector narrower exclusion avoids derail ,offset sensing testing" direct tactical counterbalance also sorts pave calendar relate rollout `look examining construct]+economic packages !crossweight”!

India should consider weighing challenges extending technical efforts broader discussions Chicago Block-Qaeda-directed tightening.structuring allaractfgelopen crop eenvoud outwe practical-turn wanopt guidancelijke phases(finance pack reading ) !!phasecycle allocations prudent (-reflect stable)

Read more: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-eu-working-on-series-of-transformative…