NEW DELHI: There is significant progress in negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU), an official said on Thursday. Trade and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was in Brussels last week to meet European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic to assess the progress of the negotiations.
“There is good progress on the India-EU FTA. There is significant progress in the talks,” the official said, without divulging further details.
During the meeting between Goyal and Sefcovic, the two sides agreed to build a commercially meaningful trade agenda and work towards a mutually beneficial trade pact.
The two leaders also outlined policy directions for both teams to develop a mutually beneficial agenda for trade and investment and a strong FTA in an accelerated manner to address global challenges.
The meeting came ahead of the 10th round of talks between India and the EU, scheduled from March 10 to 14 in Brussels.
In the ninth round, both sides discussed trade issues covering goods, services, investments and government procurement along with necessary rules such as rules of origin, SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) and technical barriers to trade.
In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations after a gap of more than eight years. It stalled in 2013 due to differences over several issues.
Total trade reached $180 billion in 2023-24. India exported $75.18 billion in goods and $31.13 billion in services to the EU, while the EU exported $63.44 billion in goods and $31.35 billion in services to India.
At the same time, the ministry said, the EU is also a major source of foreign direct investment, with total FDI estimated at $117.34 billion.