After a gap of eight years, the EU and India are expected to formally relaunch negotiations on a free trade agreement at the EU-India summit on 8 May.
“We expect the leaders to agree to launch negotiations on three agreements: trade, protection of investment, and Geographical Indications”, an EU source said on Wednesday 6 May.
For the EU, relations with India have developed positively in recent years, reaching a favourable moment to develop the existing strategic partnership.
In 2013, negotiations on the trade agreement hit a roadblock due to the divergent level of ambition between the two parties (see EUROPE 10931/30).
The EU now considers that the time is right to resume discussions. “We are talking about a resumption of negotiations. The issues present will still be there but we are confident the momentum will pave the way”, explained the same source.
Until a few months ago, the EU favoured the form of an investment agreement over a free trade agreement (see EUROPE 12656/16). It now says it is ready to move forward on a genuine package including trade, investment and geographical Indications. Leaders are therefore expected to agree on the launch of negotiations on these three components, which will be the subject of separate agreements.
Covid-19. In addition to economic cooperation, EU leaders will discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, including European support for India. Although the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was initially scheduled to visit Porto, he has cancelled his visit and will participate remotely, due to the epidemiological situation in India. Sixteen Member States have already announced support for India and the Commission has announced 2.2 million euros in aid to the World Health Organization to help the country cope with a very violent wave of Covid-19 (see EUROPE 12713/15).
The EU and India will also discuss global cooperation and solidarity to build a more resilient global health system, access to vaccines, including through the Covax facility, resilience of pharmaceutical supply chains and the common goals of the reform of the World Health Organization.
With EU leaders due to discuss the lifting of patent rights on Covid-19 vaccines at the 7-8 May Social Summit in Porto (see separate news item), one can expect to see this issue raised in discussions with Narendra Modi. India is the initiator, along with South Africa, of the proposal to waive intellectual property rights on vaccines, which is currently being discussed at the WTO.
More broadly, leaders will address global solidarity and cooperation to build a more resilient global health system. India is the world’s second largest producer of vaccines and the EU hopes to agree on stronger global health links with India.
The meeting will also be an opportunity to take stock of progress since the last summit, held virtually ten months ago in mid-July 2020 (see EUROPE 12528/9), and to raise the level of ambition in certain areas, according to an EU source.
Connectivity. The leaders will discuss strengthening the partnership in technology and connectivity. A partnership for connectivity is therefore also expected to be adopted. This agreement will link the EU and India in the areas of transport, energy, digital and people-to-people contacts. This partnership will be the second of its kind between the EU and a third country, after the one with Japan (see EUROPE 12337/28).
The two sides will also reportedly develop their cooperation on digital technology and set up a bilateral working group on artificial intelligence, according to a senior EU official.
Leaders are expected as well to reaffirm their shared commitment to protecting the planet by promoting green growth, ahead of the COP26 on climate and the COP15 on biodiversity. “We will tell the Indian Prime Minister that the time has come to be more ambitious” on the climate, “in order to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement”, said a senior EU official.
India is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
The leaders will also exchange views on international and regional security issues. Stressing the EU’s support for an “open, non-exclusive and rules-based” Indo-Pacific region, an EU source said India had a pivotal role to play in this regard and that the EU was ready to strengthen its role in the region (see EUROPE 12702/17).
The Europeans would also like to develop synergies with New Delhi in the field of security and defence (see EUROPE 12407/28), particularly in cyberspace and in the fight against terrorism, disruptive technologies and maritime security.
Leaders will also reportedly reaffirm the importance of cooperation in education, research, science and technology and encourage people-to-people exchanges.
As the world’s largest democracies, the EU and India are expected to finally welcome the resumption of their human rights dialogue after an eight-year stalemate. They could commit to greater cooperation on human rights issues in international fora, including the United Nations.
EU leaders will use their informal dinner on Friday 7 May to prepare for the summit with Mr Modi. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Camille-Cerise Gessant)