- Negotiations
The European Union and India launched negotiations on a bilateral free trade and investment agreement in June 2007. However, between the governments, a number of controversies have been plaguing the talks. Delhi wants Brussels to relax its stringent food safety criteria which penalise Indian farm and fishery exports and to make it easier for Indian professionals to work in the EU. Europe is primarily out to win major openings of India’s services sector and broad liberalisation of foreign investment, while India does not want to discuss allowing European firms to compete in India’s government procurement market.
Indian social movements, including fisherfolk and labour unions, people living with HIV/AIDS and other health activists have been mobilizing against the FTA. International actions and campaigns have particularly targeted the proposed intellectual property provisions of the agreement, and the impact of the FTA on access to medicines.
last update: May 2012
Photo: MSF
7-Feb-2018
LiveMint
India, EU negotiators met informally for one round of talks on the free trade agreement in November and expert-level contacts were on, EU’s ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski said.
16-Nov-2017
The Indian Express
Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed BTIA have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on key issues like IPR, duty cut in automobile and spirits, and liberal visa regime.
9-Nov-2017
Live Mint
India, EU chief trade negotiators will meet next week in New Delhi to hammer out a way forward for the long-pending free trade agreement negotiations between the two sides.
26-Oct-2017
The Hindu
EU official says goal is to have a ’broad, deep, comprehensive and ambitious’ FTA.
18-Oct-2017
PTI
Chief negotiators for the proposed India-EU free trade agreement will meet in New Delhi to discuss the way forward for the resumption of the long-stalled talks over it.
16-Oct-2017
The Hindu
India and the European Union (EU) are set to begin talks soon on re-starting stalled negotiations for a free trade pact but New Delhi will not favour pre-conditions, such as prioritising an investment agreement that the 29-member bloc had earlier insisted upon.
9-Oct-2017
The Hindu
India and the European Union failed to fix a date to re-launch negotiations on the proposed bilateral Free Trade Agreement, or a timeline to successfully conclude the talks that “were temporarily put on hold in summer 2013.”
3-Oct-2017
The Indian Express
The 14th India-EU Summit aims to deepen the India-EU Strategic Partnership and advance collaboration in priority areas, a Ministry of External Affairs statement said.
23-Aug-2017
EU Bulletin
Former diplomat says the EU’s insistence on opening up on wine imports from France and automobile imports from Germany have held up the EU-India FTA negotiations.
5-Jul-2017
Tribune India
The EU now wants to negotiate the Bilateral Investment Treaty before it starts negotiating the EU-India BTIA. This poses an impasse because India will not accept one of the clauses which allows EU investors to challenge the government in front of an international tribunal.
