India, EU form high-level Trade and Technology Council to give political direction to strategic partnership

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (File image)

India and the European Union (EU) have formed a high-level Trade and Technology Council to provide political-level oversight of all aspects of the India-EU relationship and to ensure coordination between different areas of cooperation. It will be the second such mechanism initiated by the EU, after establishing a similar platform with the United States in June 2021.

Announced on April 25 during the visit of European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, the Trade and Technology Council is expected to provide the political steer and the necessary structure to operationalise decisions on bilateral relations across the field. It will coordinate technical work, and report to the political level to ensure implementation and follow-up in areas that are important for the sustainable progress of European and Indian economies.

"This strategic coordination mechanism will allow both partners to tackle challenges at the nexus of trade, trusted technology, and security, and thus deepen cooperation in these fields between the EU and India," the European Commission said.

Looking ahead

European leadership believes that establishing the Council was a required step towards strengthening strategic partnership and tackling current challenges and addressing geopolitical circumstances, an official said. He said the decision was taken at the third India-EU Strategic Partnership Review, held in Brussels in October 2021.

The Strategic Partnership, in turn, acts as a common roadmap towards coalescing foreign policy between the two global powers till 2025. It is based on the premise that both have a common interest in each other's security, prosperity and sustainable development and can contribute jointly to a 'safer, cleaner and more stable world'.

The new India-EU Council is expected to be based on the EU-US Council which is co-chaired by European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis; US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. It has 10 working groups chaired by relevant US agencies and European Commission Services at Deputy Director-General or Assistant Secretary level. The new council will also meet periodically, similarly to the one with the US. However, that is where most of the similarities will end.

"The Council with the US is focussed on strengthening transatlantic trade in the wake of the trade wars begun by former US President Donald Trump, ensuring that technological and industrial leadership of both powers are maintained, collaborate on more digitization, and push for open and competitive markets. The Council will India will be vastly different to this," a senior official in the know said.

The India-EU Council will expand and deepen bilateral trade and investment, facilitate cooperation on regulatory policy and enforcement, and work on pushing innovation by firms from both nations, he added.

During her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Von Der Leyen reviewed the progress in the India-EU Strategic Partnership, including the forthcoming re-commencement of negotiations on a proposed trade pact.

The government said several geo-political issues of topical importance were discussed during the meeting, including the situation in Ukraine and developments in the Indo-Pacific region.

The leaders also had an extensive discussion on climate-related issues, including on possibilities of collaboration between India and the EU in areas like Green Hydrogen. Van der Leyen also met President Ram Nath Kovind.