Germany pitches for resumption of EU-India free trade agreement talks

Germany on Tuesday pitched for resumption of the European Union-India free trade agreement (FTA) talks, saying both sides should do so for “strategic reasons” and to send out a strong political message.

German Ambassador to India Martin Ney at a press conference here also said, both the EU and India should “set a standard” to guide trade relations in the future, when “a very political figure is doubting free trade”. He, however, did not mention, whom he meant by that “political figure”.

“Germany has been a fervent advocate of FTA (EU-India)...We detect a willingness from the Indian side to resume negotiations,” Ney said, adding an important aspect of that is to set industry standards, meaning there should be one standard. “Both sides would benefit from the economies of scale. But, more so, we should together set standards and not wait for the others to set it for us,” the envoy said.

During his visit to Berlin in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met German Chancellor Angela Merkel and held bilateral talks. At the summit, the deadlock over the FTA between India and the EU was highlighted and Merkel along with senior business leaders had urged the Indian Prime Minister for the speedy conclusion to the agreement.

“There are growing protectionist trends around the world, but Germany believes the value chains are so deeply interconnected that we will continue to create fair trading conditions. Within this context, it is important that the FTA makes progress,” Merkel had said. “The negotiations have been tough because every country must safeguard its own interests and Germany will ensure that India’s concerns are also put on the table,” she said.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited India in March and met Modi, and both of them agreed that for “political and strategic reasons”, it is important to resume negotiations, Ney said.“It is high time for both the EU and India to sit down (for talks)... There are issues such as import taxes on automobile parts, wines and spirits. But these issues can be solved, they just need a time-frame,” the German ambassador said.

“A very political figure is doubting free trade. Perhaps, we should send out a strong political message by resuming negotiations between two sides, the EU and India, and hammer out a strategy to guide our trade. A strategy to shape a treaty, and that treaty is called FTA,” he said.

When asked, if there was any clarity on the timeline of resumption of talks, the envoy said, “There is no political decision yet as to when to restart the negotiations.”

Ney said Germany is the sixth largest trading partner of India and the most important trading partner inside the European Union. The trade volume between the two countries rose by 10 per cent in 2017, crossing 19 billion Euro mark, he said, adding, 1,700 German companies are doing business in India.

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