High-level EU trade delegation to visit India next week to push FTA talks

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A seven-member high-powered trade delegation of the European Union (EU) will visit India next week to push for finalising the long-awaited bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between the two sides.

The delegation of the EU Committee on International Trade will be in India from October 27 to 29 to discuss trade, economic and investment relations.

It will be led by Cristina Maestre, the committee's standing rapporteur for India, and Brando Benifei.

"The main objective of this visit is to contribute to increasing our mutual understanding amid intensive trade negotiations between the EU and India," Maestre and Benifei said in a statement.

"The mission is timely taking place just a few months ahead of the deadline to conclude negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of 2025," they said.

"We look forward to discussing the issues at stake as both sides have a mutual interest in reaching a meaningful bilateral agreement and in protecting the rules-based multilateral trade order," they added.

In September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed their commitment to finalise the trade deal by December.

The European Union is India's biggest trade partner with bilateral trade in goods recording $ 135 billion in the financial year 2023-24. The FTA is expected to significantly enhance the two-way trade ties.

India and the EU concluded the 14th round of FTA negotiations in Brussels on October 10.

Following the negotiations, the EU said the talks focused on firming up an economically meaningful market access package.

"Some progress was made in outstanding areas, in particular on the SPS chapter, which was closed," it said.

The two sides have already concluded negotiations on 11 chapters that included customs and trade facilitation, dispute settlement, digital trade, sustainable food system, small and medium-sized enterprises, competition and subsidies and capital movements.

The delegation of members of the European Parliament will also engage with a variety of stakeholders in order to receive first-hand information on the opportunities and challenges posed by these trade negotiations.

The committee's members are set to meet ministerial and parliamentary officials, as well as the Federation of European Business in India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The delegation will also meet civil society bodies working on sustainability issues, representatives of workers and employers and organisations working on labour rights, a EU readout said.