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16 October 2013 Brussels
CALL FOR RAPID CONCLUSION OF AN AMBITIOUS AND BALANCED FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EU AND INDIA
Statement by
EUROPE INDIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (EICC)
The Europe India Chamber of Commerce, representing scores of European and Indian businesses, is strongly committed to an ambitious, balanced and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which would deliver significant economic benefits and economic growth for European Union (EU) member states and India.
Gathered in Brussels for our annual Business Conference, we express disappointment that after over 5 years of negotiation, including 14 rounds of bilateral talks, no conclusion is in sight as we approach the end of mandates for the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Government of India in 2014.
An ambitious, balanced and value adding FTA would include, inter alia, elimination of tariffs and technical barriers to trade, market access for goods and services, access to public procurement, protection of investment and intellectual property rights, as well as competition. Urgent and constructive engagement by both parties is vital over the next two months if an agreement is to be reached in time. Success would create growth and employment, provide more of a level-playing field for all economic operators and serve the public interest.
In order to gainfully benefit from an EU-India FTA, and for business to be able to support its conclusion, the FTA must provide equal market participation opportunities for each party to the agreement. Consequently, we call on the European Commission and the Government of India to take all the necessary required steps to ensure that companies are able to compete fairly for business in each other’s markets.
The value of EU-India trade in goods and services grew from 28.6 billion euro in 2003 to 98 billion euro in 2011. Whilst these figures show that the recent years have witnessed a substantial increase in trade between the EU and India, the volumes remain modest. The removal of trade and regulatory barriers through the envisaged agreement would allow for a higher degree of trade, investment and economic integration and generate important gains for both parties.
Improving economic relations between the EU and India is therefore essential for Indian and European companies, whose business links extend beyond import and export to include alliances and partnerships in supply chains, joint research projects and significant direct investments. This agreement should also act as a catalyzer of important administrative and economic reforms that would improve the overall business environment for companies in both 2
entities. Realizing the full potential of bilateral trade is particularly important when the economies of the EU and India are facing difficult times.
A free trade agreement between European Union and India would build on the existing strong relations between them to simultaneously boost nearly a decade of strategic relations between them. Also, a free trade agreement between EU and India would encourage greater innovation and manufacturing efficiencies by stimulating joint technological development, practical applications and new cooperative ventures.
Although the free trade negotiation talks at the highest ministerial level in Brussels remains inconclusive, both India and EU have decided to chalk out a roadmap to complete their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations by the end of this year - so far, 16 rounds of negotiations on the FTA have been held. The FTA – officially known as Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) will be the most comprehensive agreement between many of the great democracies. With this in mind, we urge European Commission and the Government of India to tackle the key open questions in order to achieve progress in the negotiation of this ambitious and balanced agreement. EICC will follow closely the progress in the FTA negotiation.
We urge our governments and the EU to make every effort to capitalise on a great opportunity to give fresh vitality to the European and Indian economies and move rapidly to the complet5ion of the EU-India FTA.
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The Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) is recognized as the Apex Chamber of Europe which promotes bilateral trade, investment and economic relations between European Union and India. The EICC speaks for multilateral rule based trading system and improvement in European and Indian competitiveness. The chamber is realizing its mission through high level strategic dialogue and debate in which trade and economic issues are intensively discussed. EICC has been headquartered in Brussels from where it serves EU-India economic relations nationally and internationally.