India, EU won’t agree on everything but plenty of areas to collaborate: EU Trade Commissioner

Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said it is important not to let the search for a perfect deal become the enemy of progress, and stressed that the direction in which the negotiations are moving is extremely positive. According to a statement released by the Commerce Ministry, Goyal said the India–EU FTA will be a “comprehensive economic partnership with strategic elements”.

Goyal said India will benefit from Europe’s technology and innovation, while the EU will benefit from India’s growth story, scale and resilience. He underlined that both sides are striving to put in place an economically meaningful package that balances the interests of producers, exporters and consumers in equal measure.

Šefčovič said the automotive sector, which powers the economies of both India and the EU, should be at the centre of the partnership and that by combining the power of our automotive markets – the world’s third and fourth largest – both countries can lead the charge in developing cutting-edge combustion engines as well as electric vehicles with advanced battery technologies and smart mobility solutions.

“The automotive market in India is expanding and thriving. My goal is to ensure that the FTA facilitates two-way trade flows between India and the EU under conditions of tariff liberalisation for all components, from engines to brakes. This would be a win–win scenario for our industries and would, in particular, facilitate the introduction of advanced new technologies into India,” Šefčovič said.

The commissioner said that in 2024, the EU was India’s largest trading partner, ahead of the US and China, and that more than 6,000 European companies operate in India, while overall bilateral trade in goods hit €140 billion in 2023. “And while trade between our economies has grown by around 90 per cent in the past decade, there is still a lot of room for further growth,” he added.

“We are now maximising our efforts to finalise negotiations by the end of the year, as agreed by European Commission President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Modi. Our industries have the potential to forge synergies that drive technological advancements, enhance supply chains and accelerate innovation,” Šefčovič said as per a statement by the European Commission.