The European Parliament has said it expects swift solutions to long-standing access issues for EU companies, including in the agriculture sector, seeking to enter the market in India.
MEPs are encouraging India to eliminate existing technical barriers, including certification requirements for food and drinks, and to prohibit “buy national” policies that discourage imports.
While the parliament has welcomed the restart of trade and investment talks between the EU and India, MEPs have said corporation should be based on respecting the rule of law; democracy; human, women’s and labour rights.
Rapporteur Geert Bourgeois said the EU urgently needs to conclude more new trade and investment agreements to secure its prosperity and create additional jobs. He said:
“A trade and investment agreement with India’s booming economy offers many opportunities for our companies and is also of great geopolitical significance.”
A resolution was recently adopted by 482 votes, with 107 votes against and 40 abstentions, which sets out what the European Parliament expects from resumed trade talks.
EU-India trade talks
The resolution adopted by MEPs acknowledges that agriculture is a sensitive issue, as it accounts for 41% of employment in India.
However, it states that “greater market access for agricultural products should not result in giving either party an unfair competitive advantage”.
Ongoing talks concern a potential trade agreement; a stand-alone investment protection agreement; and an agreement on geographical indications.
MEPs insist that future trade deals with India should also be in alignment with the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork strategy and the Paris Agreement.
Once an agreement has been made, consent of the European Parliament will be necessary for its final approval.
Background
Despite MEPs’ regret over India’s hesitancy to condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the resolution calls for the corporation of the EU and India to address the effects on food security caused by the war.
The EU is India’s third-largest trading partner and leading foreign investor, while India is the EU’s ninth-largest trading partner and only accounted for less than 2.1% of its total trade in goods last year.
Despite a 70% increase in trade between 2009 and 2019, the EU and India last year agreed to relaunch trade talks which originally had started in 2007.