Comments
The European Union (EU) is ready to explore all options for starting negotiations on data adequacy (security) status with India in the future, according to Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India.
India and the EU, it seems, have also not given up on the long-pending talks on a broad-based trade & investment agreement (BTIA) with the EU Ambassador stating that the two sides would soon start contacts on more general and very specific issues to break the deadlock.
“We are fully committed to the work on a comprehensive bilateral meaningful agreement on trade and investment. We are in the process of active contacts on more general and very specific issues. Let us see how these contacts will finish. But my feeling is that there is political will and trust on both sides,” Kozlowski said addressing a media roundtable on Wednesday.
The roundtable was organised for presenting to the media the key points of the paper on 'Elements for an EU strategy on India’ adopted by the European Commission on Tuesday. The strategy aims at building a partnership for sustainable modernisation and the rules-based global order, the Ambassador said.
Positive note
The EU agreeing to look at options to start negotiations on data security is a positive development for India as a data secure nation status extended by the block would give European companies the confidence to do more off-shore business with the country. The negotiations on data security status would be independent of the negotiations on the BTIA.
The EU Ambassador, however, pointed out that bilateral investment treaty between India and the EU will not be a separate agreement but would be part of the BTIA. With all existing BITs that India had with its trading partners standing null and void, New Delhi is keen to start negotiations on new pacts based on the model BIT drafted by the Finance Ministry with an emphasis on protecting the government against litigation filed by foreign companies.
However, individual EU countries are no longer interested in negotiating separate investment pacts with India and New Delhi will now have an investments agreement with the entire EU whenever the BTIA takes shape.
On Britain’s planned exit from the EU next March, Kozlowski said Brexit as such will not have any significant impact on India-EU relations. “The EU is fully committed to stick to already reached agreement with India, to the current cooperation and to the strategy document published yesterday,” he said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.