Brussels, 11/04/2013 (Agence Europe) -Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a delegation of five ministers were in Berlin on Thursday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Germany wants the EU and India to conclude their free-trade negotiations in 2013. “A swift conclusion, this year if possible, is in both parties' interests”, said the German minister for the economy, Philipp Rösler, following a meeting with the Indian trade minister, Anand Sharma, in Berlin on Wednesday 10 April. On 11 April, Chancellor Merkel met an Indian delegation headed up by Prime Minister Singh, shortly before a critical meeting in Brussels on 15 April between Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Sharma, to put the finishing touches to the final package of the EU-India free-trade agreement.
In the event of success, the free-trade agreement would allow both partners to improve access to their respective markets, for goods, services and public procurement, and shore up the environment for bilateral investment flows, intellectual property and competition.
A long way from the media circus which has surrounded talks with North America, the EU-India negotiations, which were launched in 2007, have made discreet progress towards a final package this year, thanks to the reforms undertaken by New Delhi, in the distribution and banking sectors (see EUROPE 10822).
Although the services sector is the key to the negotiations, the parties also have other sensitive issues to resolve: automotive, both for passenger cars and spare parts, wines and spirits and public procurement. They must also agree on a sustainable development clause. Both sides would like to conclude an agreement ahead of the Indian general elections of 2014. (EH/transl.fl)