India and the European Union (EU) are in the last and the most arduous leg of their ongoing trade negotiations, as per India’s commerce ministry.While both sides concluded the 14th round of negotiations in Brussels last week, some Indian negotiators stayed back to continue talks on issues such as rules of origin (ROO). Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal met director general (trade) of the European Commission (EC) Sabine Weyand to assess the progress of talks during the last round.ROO defines the minimal threshold of processing for a product within a country to label it as made in that country. Agrawal said that the negotiating team will have discussions for two weeks at a stretch with an aim to achieve substantial progress in talks, even as both sides look at concluding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) within 2025 itself.
Virtual engagements are also underway between both sides, even as the next round of talks has not been scheduled yet.While India expects a physical visit from the EU trade delegation in November, Agrawal said talks are progressing well in view of progress in the previous rounds of negotiations. India is looking at exporting more labour-intensive goods to the EU with increased market access, and the EU is aiming at exporting more automobiles and liquor to India.Last month, India’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said over 65% of chapters had been finalised in the India-EU FTA negotiations during the 13th round of negotiations
Earlier, sources in New Delhi had indicated that guidance would be taken from ministers on both sides on the remaining issues, which may need a political call. Both sides had exchanged offers related to their services sectors during the 12th round of negotiations in Brussels, where they discussed key interest areas in the domain of market access for goods.In June 2025, government sources told CNBC TV18 that extra sessions were being held in the India-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, with the frequency of meetings being increased from quarterly to monthly.Earlier, CNBC-TV18 had reported that India and the EU were keeping options open for an early harvest deal, like the one India had signed with Australia. The early harvest deal would include issues such as tariff and non-tariff barriers, intellectual property rights, government procurement, technical barriers to trade, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. India and the EU are pursuing a two-stage approach to finalise an FTA, apart from a bilateral investment protection agreement and recognition of geographical indications (GIs) with the 27-member bloc.In June 2022, India and the EU had resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications after a gap of over eight years, after talks were stalled in 2013. Apart from significant duty cuts in automobiles and medical devices, the EU also wants tax reduction in other products such as wine, spirits, meat, poultry, and a strong intellectual property regime.Indian goods’ exports to the EU, such as ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, steel, petroleum products, and electrical machinery, can become more competitive if the FTA is sealed.Negotiations cover 23 policy areas or chapters, including trade in goods, trade in services, investment, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, competition, trade defence, government procurement, dispute settlement, intellectual property rights, geographical indications, and sustainable development.India’s bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $136.53 billion in 2024-25 (exports worth $75.85 billion and imports worth $60.68 billion), making it the largest trading partner for the same. EU accounts for around 17% of India’s total exports, while the bloc’s exports to India constitute 9% of its total overseas shipments. India-EU bilateral trade in services was estimated at $51.45 billion in 2023.
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