India, EU FTA talks gain unprecedented momentum

Maroš Šefčovič, EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

India and the European Union are maximising efforts to finalise a free trade agreement by the end of the year and put in place a win-win package, said Maroš Šefčovič, EU's Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security.

"Intensive talks and negotiations are ongoing for a ground-breaking FTA between India and the EU. We have been negotiating it for some time but it never had the momentum it has now and there is political support from both sides...," Šefčovič said at an event in New Delhi on September 12.

Maroš Šefčovič joined the 13th round of negotiations along with EU's Christophe Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food between from September 12.

The current round of talks are underway in New Delhi from September 8, and talks are likely to continue till September 13.

"We will not agree on everything but as two major democracies in an increasingly unpredictable world we will come to a good and mutually beneficial trade deal," Šefčovič said, and added, "We have never been through such a geo-economic turmoil that we are going through right now. Europe is signing one agreement after one another, we concluded a big trade agreement with Mercosur, very soon I hope to achieve the same with Indonesia and Mexico."

"What we discuss on industry side but agriculture discussion is even more challenging...and I am sure we will find a solution to all issues we discussed today and will have a good FTA very, very soon," he stated.

"We are not only talking about tariff lines and certain sectors. We want regular meetings with India at the top levels, we want to look at new opportunities on trade and technology. We want to have much more interaction with Indian business leaders. Every government to government agreement is good only when it translates into business to business commercial transactions," he further added.

Speaking at the same event, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the teams from India and the EU are engaged in intense negotiations for a FTA.

"Every agreement has some give and take to make it a balanced one, there can never be a perfect situation. And we should not make perfect an enemy of the good. I assure you the possibilities we are trying to unlock you will find the arrangements between India, and the EU attractive, exciting and holding good potential for businesses to grow and collaborate," the minister added.

In February 2025, India and the EU decided to ramp up talks for the proposed free trade agreement, targeting to close it by the end of 2025 to tide over ongoing disruptions from volatile trade policies.

The 12th round of EU-India FTA negotiations took place in Brussels between July 7 and 11, when both sides reached an in-principle agreement on Digital Trade chapter and Anti-Fraud clause, pending some technical consultations.

The talks have come at a time when the United States has imposed a 50 percent tariff on most Indian goods, while lowering duties on nearly all exports from the EU to 15 percent after both sides reached an agreement.

The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 12.2 percent of its trade, ahead of the US (10.8 percent) and China (10.5 percent). The 27-nation bloc is the second-largest destination for Indian exports after the United States.

India is EU’s ninth-largest trading partner, accounting for 2.2 percent of its total trade in goods in 2023, well behind the US, China and the UK.