EU India Trade Deal by Feb 2012

The EU and India are hoping to clinch a free trade deal within the coming months, according to top-level officials from both sides. The February 2012 EU-India Summit has now been set as the new deadline for completing the talks, which were launched in 2007.

The renewed push to complete the trade talks was announced late last week by both EU and Indian officials. John Clancy, the EU Trade Spokesman, said in a 17 November statement that discussions are currently moving at “full steam ahead.”

“Intense negotiations will therefore continue over the coming months to effectively solve the remaining core issues between now and the EU-India Summit,” he added.

A statement from the office of India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, also confirmed the “satisfaction with the progress of negotiations” of the EU-India trade pact.

Since negotiations were launched in 2007, the talks have faced repeated setbacks; the pact was originally scheduled to be completed in 2010. Thirteen rounds of trade talks have already taken place.

The recent deadline for next February came about as frustrations among EU member governments, such as Britain, built over the various delays.

With the pact set to slash duties on over 90 percent of bilateral trade, along with an opening of mutual markets for investment and services, the EU Trade Commission estimates that, in the short run alone, India would gain €5 billion and the EU over €4 billion from finalising the pact.