EU may not put human rights condition for FTA

The European Union may back off from its insistence on including non-trade issues like human rights in the proposed free trade pact with India.

Indian trade officials met their EU counterparts last week at Brussels for the first round of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), nearly nine months after agreeing to talk.

"The European side did not raise non-trade issues like human rights or democracy. It was a non-issue in the negotiations," said an Indian government official.

Indian trade negotiators say if the EU continues on this path, a major hurdle to the FTA will disappear. The talks are likely to go on till 2008-end. The agreement is expected to be signed shortly thereafter.

In 1995, the EU had decided that its trade pacts should include commitments by the other country on concerns like weapons of mass destruction, child labour, environment, human rights and democracy.

India has been objecting to this. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath had earlier described the inclusion of non-trade clauses as a potential deal-breaker.

"The second round of negotiations for the FTA will in all likelihood be held in New Delhi in October," said the official.

While many member countries of the European Union have been insisting that human right and democracy-related clauses be included in the FTA, the executives of the European Commission have been arguing against this. Human rights is already part of a cooperation agreement between India and the EU signed in 1994.

The EU accounts for around 22.88 per cent of India's total external trade, the highest with any group of countries. India, however, ranks 10th on the list of EU's trade destinations, with a share of only 2 per cent. Moreover, India receives only 1 per cent of the total investments of the European Union.