A day ahead of the India-European Union Summit, the European Union Trade Commissioner, Mr Karel De Gucht, called on the Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, here on Thursday.
The summit is expected to issue a ‘political statement' on the progress of negotiations on the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
During the meeting, Mr Sharma said, “the India-EU summit will further strengthen the two large economies of the world and the proposed BTIA (or Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement — as the FTA would be officially called) will give a fillip to expanded and more diversified trade between the two sides,” an official statement said.
Both the leaders met individually and with the delegation to bring convergence on various issues and iron out differences on trade-related issues.
Following his meeting with Mr Sharma, Mr De Gucht said: “Tomorrow we will present our report.”
In the FTA, New Delhi is pushing for greater market access for services, especially the easier movement of its service-providers, outsourcing and commercial presence, mainly in information technology-related services. This is apart from seeking greater market access for its merchandise goods such as textiles and some farm products in the EU.
The EU wants a larger play in goods, such as auto (mostly luxury vehicles) and wine, and for banking and retail in the services category. It is also pitching for the high-level protection of Geographical Indication for products such as cheese, olive oil, ham, vinegar and saffron, sources said, adding that the EU wants these products to be automatically registered as a GI in India without applying for registration again. The EU is also seeking a chapter on Government procurement in the FTA, they said.
The talks for the FTA began in June 2007.
The EU is India's third largest trading partner with bilateral trade touching $91.3 billion in 2010-11. As a region, it is the largest investor in India with FDI totalling $33.24 billion during April 2000-November 2011. Indian investments in the EU are worth $30 billion.