EU and India to Agree on Resuming FTA Negotiations... Likely to Discuss Ways to Strengthen Cooperation

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Major foreign media including AFP reported on the 8th (local time) that the European Union (EU) and India are expected to agree to resume free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations that have been suspended since 2013.

The 27 EU member state leaders and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to hold a video conference on the day to reach this agreement and discuss strengthening cooperation between the two sides.

Additionally, the EU and India plan to seek an agreement on Geographical Indications to protect specialty agricultural products such as French Champagne and Indian Darjeeling tea, including an investment protection agreement. Furthermore, they plan to agree on developing joint social infrastructure projects in countries around the world.

A study by the European Parliament last year estimated the potential benefits to the EU from a trade agreement with India at up to 8.5 billion euros (approximately 11.5 trillion won). However, this estimate was made before the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.

The atmosphere for an EU-India FTA agreement is seen as an effort to counter China's rise. The EU is seeking to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific region and has decided to establish a strategy to strengthen cooperation in the region.

After the EU imposed human rights sanctions on China in March, China retaliated by placing European Parliament members on its sanctions list, leading to conflicts between the two sides. As a result, the EU has effectively suspended efforts to ratify the investment agreement that both sides agreed to conclude at the end of last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.