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EU team to meet Piyush Goyal on FTA
Dec-08-2025

The visiting European Union (EU) team will hold discussions with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on December 8, 2025 on the progress of negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). The meeting is important as both sides are eager to conclude the negotiations as early as possible. The team, led by EU's Directorate-General for Trade Sabine Weyand, is for iron out differences on issues pertaining to both goods and services. They have fixed the year-end deadline to conclude talks. Differences that still need to be ironed out in certain areas such as steel, carbon tax, automobiles and non-tariff barriers.

In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications after a gap of over eight years. It was stalled in 2013 due to differences on the level of opening up markets. India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $136.53 billion in 2024-25 (exports worth $75.85 billion and imports worth $60.68 billion), making it the largest trading partner for goods. 

The EU market accounts for about 17 per cent of India's total exports, and the bloc's exports to India constitute 9 per cent of its total overseas shipments. Besides demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles and medical devices, the EU wants tax reduction in other products like wine, spirits, meat, poultry, and a strong intellectual property regime. Indian goods' exports to the EU, such as readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, steel, petroleum products, and electrical machinery, can become more competitive if the pact sails through. 


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