EU-India trade relations

“EU unity, proactiveness and strong relations with other countries is extremely important for global development. We want the EU to become stronger and India will play a positive role towards that through the medium of Germany,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his visit to Germany, reports the Hindustan Times.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed that she will “do a major push in Brussels to ensure that these negotiations progress again”, according to Reuters.

The EU is India’s number one trading partner, well ahead of China and the US. India and the EU began free trade negotiations in 2007. Despite several rounds of negotiations, the discussions seem to jolt over topics such as market access for some goods and services, government procurement, and investment protection rules. An EU-India FTA would be one of the most significant trade agreements, affecting the lives of 1.7 billion people.