EU says keen to conclude FTA talks with India

Within a fortnight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Brussels to attend the Indo-EU Summit, the European Union today said it is keen to conclude the long-pending FTA with India but both partners should first establish their objectives clearly.
"We are very much interested to have such an agreement (FTA). There are certain interests on the European side as well as on the Indian side and let's first discuss them at a proper level to establish what are our objectives, what are our levels of ambitions to fix the main elements before we go into more negotiations," EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski told reporters here.

Talks for the free trade agreement (FTA), officially known as the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), have been stalled since May 2013 as both sides are yet to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security for the IT sector.
At the 13th Indo-EU Summit held in Brussels late last month, Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel had pitched for resumption of FTA talks on "mutually agreed terms".
Kozlowski said there are certain issues which are high on agenda for FTA to be completed but both partners are very far apart.
On the EU side there are concerns surrounding industries like auto components, wines and spirits, while on the Indian side there are issues related to visas for professionals, especially those from the IT sector.

He, however, said discussions are going on at official and political levels, and there is great commitment from both the sides to continue talks for concluding this agreement.

The ambassador said European companies consider India as a prospective market and this is the reason why they are making investments here. There are around 6,000 European companies present in the country.
"Some EU companies have flagged to me that for them it would be good to use India as a production hub and to produce not only for India but for international markets as well. So, from that point of view, trade liberalisation will be perceived favourable by the international community," he said.

According to Kozlowski, for decades the 28-member block and India have developed their co-operation and have achieved a lot but it is much below potential.
Speaking about India, Kozlowski said the country is
experiencing "very fine economic growth" and it belongs to a group of new engines of growth for the world economy.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving a new impetus to the economy, he said the present government is more open and is reaching out to new partners.
"A number of reforms have been introduced or are being discussed. According to our assessment, the business environment here is becoming better and we hope this process will continue," the envoy said.

He said in 2015, the Indo-EU trade in goods stood at USD 100 billion while for services it was USD 30 billion.
European companies invested around 5.2 billion euros in the country in 2014.
On the Panama papers leak, Kozlowski said the European Union is analysing the case and it will be taken up at the next G-20 meeting to be held in China in September.
He said in the EU, there is a system of information exchange among the member countries.
"We need international cooperation to deal with such cases," he added.