EU endorses India stand to keep labour standards out of new WTO talks

NEW DELHI, JAN 29: In a visit clearly motivated to encourage India to cooperate in the new round of WTO talks, the European Union has endo...

NEW DELHI, JAN 29: In a visit clearly motivated to encourage India to cooperate in the new round of WTO talks, the European Union has endorsed India’s views that core labour standards and enviromental issues should be kept out of the new round of multilateral trade negotiations at the WTO. This was conveyed by visiting European Commissioner for External Relations Christopher Patten during meetings with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra here. Yet, “nobody slapped the table and said, `you’re absolutely correct Mr Patten’,” the EU Commissioner said.

Speaking to FICCI businessmen, Patten said addressing environmental concerns must remain the prerogative of sovereign governments, but “if we leave things as they are, WTO panels will continue to make decisions affecting the environment for us”. On labour standards too, Patten’s view was that India must “work with us towards creating a credible alternative so as to pre-empt protectionism”.

Patten also shared India’s concern on another issue — the growing threat of international terrorism — with better results. The European Union today extended strong support to New Delhi’s proposal for a Comprehensive UN Convention against terrorism. Also, counter-terrorism experts from the two sides are likely to meet soon to discuss joint measures to combat this problem, Patten said.

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The former governor of Hong Kong added that the question of financing of terrorism, which along with transmittable diseases and illicit trade represents the dark side of globalisation, also needed to be discussed threadbare.

While areas of cooperation were discussed, differences continue between the EU and India on CTBT. Patten clarified today that the change in US administration had not affected EU policy. He said there was no change in EU’s stand, and that while it recognises India’s legitimate security concerns, it would like to see New Delhi sign the treaty.

Patten described India as a unique success story that is still undersold. This gets reflected in foreign direct investment too, he added, where India’s annual total inflow is less than the amount Thailand attracts every year. This, he said, is the result of not selling India’s image abroad as a money-making venture, but it’s not limited to an image problem entirely. “There are some things that you need to change in order to approach investment,” Patten said.

He further announced that the second EU-India summit would be held in New Delhi later this year. The first one was held in Lisbon in June last year.

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