Piyush Goyal to travel to Brussels on Saturday for FTA talks with EU

Meeting to give 'political direction' to expedite India-EU FTA negotiations

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on Saturday for a high-level dialogue with a top European Commission official to give ‘political direction’ to expedite the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the European Union (EU).  Goyal, who will be on a three-day visit to the European nation, will meet Maroš Šefčovič, Commissioner of the European Commission for Trade and Economic Security.  “The leaders are expected to discuss the global economic situation amid trade disruptions, give political directions to expedite the FTA negotiations, and explore a commercially significant, balanced, equitable, ambitious, and mutually beneficial FTA,” the commerce department said in a statement on Friday.  India and the EU began FTA negotiations in June 2022. Despite nine intense rounds of talks, progress has been marginal due to fundamental differences. An assessment of the negotiations is now pending at a political level.   Goyal and Šefčovič are also expected to undertake a stocktake of the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) framework and address bilateral trade matters.  The trade bloc is one of India’s largest trading partners, with bilateral trade estimated at over $180 billion in 2023-2024. At the same time, the EU is also a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI), with total FDI estimated at $117.34 billion, the commerce department said.  On the sidelines, Goyal is expected to meet Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Bernard Quintin, minister of foreign affairs, European affairs, and foreign trade of Belgium. He is also likely to hold interactions with representatives of Belgian industry and the Indian community.