EU hopeful of progress in talks on trade pact with India

The European Union is hopeful that talks with India on a comprehensive market opening pact, which has been under negotiation for the past three years, will make progress at their meeting next month in Brussels.

The eleventh round of talks between the two sides is scheduled to take place next month at the EU headquarters.

"We hope to advance as much as possible in negotiations ... The round will be held at senior officials level and different teams," an EU official said here.

India and the 27-nation EU bloc have been engaged in negotiations on a market opening pact since 2007.

There is a likelihood of ministerial-level talks on the Bilateral Investment and Trade Agreement (BITA) before the India-EU Summit scheduled in December at Brussels, sources said.

The EU is India's largest trading partner, while India is the 10th largest trading partner for the 27-nation bloc. The India-Europe FTA could help put commercial ties between the two partners on a faster track.

Negotiators from the two sides are trying to resolve certain issues, including the insistence of some EU members for inclusion of non-trade issues, such as environmental concerns and child labour, in the pact. However, India has been opposed to this.

The two sides want to remove trade barriers on goods, services and investments across all sectors of the economy.

According to a Ficci-Grant Thornton report, bilateral trade between India and the EU is expected to exceed Euro 160.6 billion ($207.6 billion) by 2015.

Merchandise trade between India and the EU was valued at about $75 billion in 2009-10.