EU envoy seeks investment liberalisation chapter in FTA with India, early investment pact conclusion

Ambassador of the European Union to India Herve Delphin on Thursday called for inclusion of investment liberalisation chapter in the free trade agreement FTA between India and the EU, and urged for early conclusion of the investment protection pact.

Ambassador of the European Union to India Herve Delphin on Thursday called for inclusion of investment liberalisation chapter in the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU, and urged for early conclusion of the investment protection pact. India and the 27-nation bloc European Union (EU) announced conclusion of negotiations for a free trade agreement on January 27, which is touted as ''mother of all deals''. Under this, a number of Indian goods will enjoy duty-free access to the 27-nation bloc, while imports of luxury cars and wines from the EU will become less expensive. Both sides are engaged in legal scrutiny of the over 1,000-page FTA text, which is expected to be completed in July. The agreement is likely this calender year and may come into force early 2027. He said the agreement covers about two billion people, which is a quarter of the global population, and a quarter of the global GDP. However, he said, ''The FTA does not cover all relevant areas. And we need to look at what I call unfinished business and beyond FTA. And investment is the main case in point''. Like the EU seeks to attract investment, India also needs investment to sustain its growth and European companies in India are already investing here and are ready to do more, Delphin said at the Federation of European Business in India (FEBI) members meet on decoding India-EU FTA. ''And European companies not yet present in India want to come and are ready also to invest more. But you need to create the favourable conditions. So this FTA, and it has already been noticed by the specialists, doesn't have a chapter on investment liberalisation in non-services sectors. ''That would have given a boost and encouragement to the private sector. Hopefully, the EU and India should revisit this area two years down the road after the entry into force of the FTA, as envisaged in the review clause, to see whether we can find common ground and address this missing element of the investment liberalisation chapter,'' he said. The ambassador also said both sides should promptly conclude the ongoing negotiation on investment protection agreement (IPA), which should give investors a solid legal framework and an additional incentive to expand their footprint in India. He added that both political as well as the business constituencies are expecting this agreement. ''And to complete the picture, we should also swiftly conclude negotiations on the third agreement launched in parallel with the FTA and IPA, which is the agreement on geographical indications. And be sure that it will give also a boost to trade by ensuring proper protection of Indian and the EU's iconic products, whether Darjeeling cheese or Roquefort cheese,'' he said. About 6,000 European firms are present in India. The EU is already a leading investor in the country, with an FDI stock of over 140 billion euros, and the stock of Indian investment in Europe stands at 440 billion euros. ''So the opportunities arising from the FTAs are pretty clear, and now the challenge is to turn these opportunities into achievements,'' he added. Speaking at the event, India's chief negotiator for this FTA and Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain said ''we are working'' on the investment thing. ''That is something which we plan to work on in future,'' Jain said. Meanwhile, the ambassador added that under the FTA, the EU will eliminate or reduce duties on more than 99 per cent of Indian goods exports, while India will grant better access for almost 97 per cent of EU exports. ''So we will have on the EU side European customers benefiting from cheaper Indian textiles, leather, footwear, gems, jewellery, tea, coffee, spices, marine products, to name a few. And Indian businesses will see lower prices on EU industrial goods like machinery, aircraft, or medical equipment,'' Delphin said. So customers at the end of the day will enjoy a wider choice and lower prices and businesses will save on lower tariffs and cheaper production inputs, he said, adding that both economies will benefit from trade diversification. The bilateral trade in goods and services currently stands at over USD 190 billion. ''We have documented evidence that for every single FTA that the EU has had, the trade has grown twice faster than with partners with non-FTA. So we are confident that this also will happen with India. And think of it, it is estimated that EU's goods exports to India will double by 2032. And with preferential access to the EU market, Indian companies will be well positioned to significantly increase their sales to the EU,'' he said.