On Thursday 22 March, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström confirmed that a meeting of chief negotiators would be held in April to take stock of their assessment of the problematic issues with a view to a resumption talks for a trade and investment agreement between the EU and India. Progress on the discussions will be reported at the next EU-India summit (the date of which has not yet been set).
Malmström told the European Parliament that during their last bilateral summit in October 2017 (see EUROPE 11878), the EU and Indian leaders tasked their negotiators with exploring how to relaunch the talks for an EU-India agreement. The chief negotiators thus had an initial meeting last November (see EUROPE 11945).
"We do not want to resume the negotiations without agreeing on the level of ambition. There is a constructive willingness from our Indian partners but we are still not at the same level of ambition", Malmström said.
The EU and India are trying to find a way to relaunch the free trade talks that were launched in 2007 but that have been on hold since May 2013.
The two parties are assessing problematic issues such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures, public procurement, the protection of intellectual property (including geographical indications), sustainable development and the protection of investments. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)