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Ireland is backing an early resumption of India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks but wants to ensure that sustainable development should be an integral part of the pact, Ireland’s Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade, Employment and Trade Promotion, Robert Troy, has said.
“That (India-EU FTA) really is going to be a game changer in terms of the capacity of trade increase between the two countries. And as you know, trade talks were stalled over the last number of years but thankfully, they are going to recommence,” Troy, who is visiting India to promote bilateral trade and investment ties as well as collaboration in higher education, told BusinessLine in an interview.
The minister said Ireland, being a member of the EU, has already experienced the benefits of the FTAs the bloc has signed with various trade partners. “The EU recently signed an FTA with Canada that has seen trade between Ireland and Canada grow exponentially. That is why we know it is going to work for our country,” the minister said.
Talks expected soon
India and the EU decided to restart talks on a bilateral FTA in 2021, after a lull of over six years, but the negotiations are yet to begin. The EU’s insistence that certain non-trade issues, such as sustainable development and labour, be included in the deal had delayed resumption of the negotiations. Matters are now getting resolved and the talks expected to begin soon.
“Any FTA with the EU will have to be underpinned on sustainable development going forward. We all acknowledge that from a climate perspective. And we all have responsibility in that area,” Troy said.
Explaining what shape sustainable development could take in the proposed India-EU FTA, the minister said both India and the EU had taken on at the Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact. “We have to look in terms of how we are going to meet our international binding targets related to carbon emission and that will feed into any discussions,” he said.
What Ireland expects
India-Ireland bilateral trade is over Euro 5.5 billion, and for a small country like Ireland, it is substantial, Troy said, adding that it would increase significantly once the India-EU FTA was in place.
Underlining the items Ireland would want to push in the FTA, Troy said his country was big in terms of its export of pharmaceuticals and med-tech, as was evident from the fact that because of its concentration on that area, Ireland was one of the only EU countries to see positive GDP growth during the pandemic. “And I think there’s an opportunity there obviously, with the API specialisation from an Indian perspective that would benefit Ireland,” he said.
Another area where Ireland sees opportunity is in exports of its quality food and whiskey, he added.
Ukraine crisis impact
On the fall-outs of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Irish minister said as Russia is a significant supplier of energy to the European market, energy prices had risen and had knock-on effects. This was particularly true for an island that depended on trade and on delivery of lorries to get its products in and out. There’s also a difficulty in relation to wheat and food supply.
“Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe and as there will be no harvest this year because of the war, food prices will increase and in turn, increase the cost of living,” he said.
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