PM panel reviews India-EU FTA

The Prime Minister's Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) met today and is believed to have reviewed the progress of negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and EU, under way since 2007.

The meeting assumes significance as the annual India-EU Summit is scheduled for February 10.

"Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about India-EU free trade pact," sources said.

European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will be meeting Sharma tomorrow on the FTA, officially dubbed as Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).

Although the negotiations for the much-delayed pact between India and the 27-nation bloc is unlikely to be concluded in the near future, some announcements are expected to be made on February 10, the source said.

The talks were to conclude in 2011, but differences among the two sides on the level of opening of the market came in the way of the BTIA.

The pact is meant to open Indian and the European markets for trade in goods, services and investment.

Issues which need to be worked out include duty cuts in automobile sector and opening of services sector. The Europeans are seeking a substantial cut in import duties on their cars into the Indian market, while the domestic industry here is showing resistance.

EU also wants India to open its services sector, including in banking and other financial services, besides foreign direct investment in retail.

Also, the 27-nation bloc has been pressing India to agree for an intellectual property rights regime over and above what the country has agreed multilaterally in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The FTA would involve slashing of duties on over 90 per cent of the trade and opening up of the mutual markets for services and investment.

The two-way commerce stood at $75 billion in 2009-10. India has already implemented comprehensive FTAs with countries like Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.