India-EU Trade Deal Nears Completion After 16 Years

India and the European Union (EU) are on the verge of concluding a trade agreement that will boost their economic ties and create new opportunities for businesses and consumers. The deal, which has been under negotiation since 2007, covers a wide range of areas, such as tariffs, services, investment protection, geographical indications, and trade and sustainable development.

The EU is India’s third largest trading partner, accounting for 10.8% of India’s total trade in goods in 2021. India is the EU’s 10th largest trading partner, accounting for 2.1% of the EU’s total trade in goods. Trade in services between the two sides reached €30.4 billion in 2020. The trade agreement aims to remove barriers and help EU firms, especially smaller ones, to export more to India, and vice versa. It also seeks to open up services and public procurement markets, ensure protection of geographical indications, pursue ambitious commitments on trade and sustainable development, and make sure the agreed rules are enforceable .

The investment protection agreement aims to provide investors from both sides with a predictable and secure investment environment, through commitments on non-discrimination, protection against expropriation without compensation and unfair treatment of investors and their investments, while preserving the right to regulate. The agreement also seeks to put in place an effective and state-of-the-art dispute settlement mechanism to enforce such rules .

The agreement on geographical indications aims to protect products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin, such as Darjeeling tea or Champagne wine. The agreement will ensure that consumers can trust the authenticity of these products and that producers can benefit from their unique characteristics .

The EU-India trade deal is expected to be signed soon, as both sides have resolved most of the outstanding issues during recent ministerial meetings. The deal will also pave the way for a new Trade and Technology Council (TTC) between the EU and India, which will lead on digital transformation, green technologies and trade .