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New Delhi: Even as India and the European Union (EU) on Friday signed a pact on an ambitious nuclear energy project, the two sides continued to lock horns over a proposal of latter’s proposal to include social issues like labour in a duty-free trade agreement that is being negotiated at present.
The difference in opinion was evident at a press conference held on the sidelines of the India-EU business summit, which was addressed by commerce minister Anand Sharma, European trade commissioner Catherine Ashton and Swedish trade minister Eva Bjorling.
EU maintains environment and labour-related issues need to be part of the talks, as it feels the benefits of the proposed FTA should be deep and not just be restricted to the economic gains. “When we are negotiating a deal, we are trying to ensure it does not lead to a situation where the environment for the workforce is worse then before,” Ashton said.
European Commission officials told FE labour and environment-related topics are still part of the FTA talks, while climate change issues are out of it.
Putting forth India’s view, Sharma said, “Here we are talking about trade in goods, services and investment. But these (social issues) are extraneous.”
However, both sides agreed to expand their cooperation in countering terrorism by accelerating negotiations between Europol, the EU’s nodal criminal intelligence agency, and the Indian agencies.
An agreement on civil nuclear energy, focusing on India’s participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, was signed after the talks.
India and EU have had seven rounds of discussions on the FTA and is now entering a critical phase where trade diplomats from both the sides will be bargaining over tariff cuts and market access in services sector in each others markets. More than 23% of India’s exports head to EU.
Ashton, however, conceded that when the negotiations started, the inclusion of social issues in the FTA talks was not a priority. Significantly, the European Parliament has been asking for inclusion of social issues in proposed the FTA.
Red tape blues for European firms
European Companies complained about bureaucratic hurdles and infrastructure bottlenecks in India at the India-EU business summit orgaised by CII and Ficci. “British invented bureaucracy but it seems perfected it,” said Tom Jhonstone, president and CEO, SKF. His view was echoed by Pierre Simon, president of Eurochambers, who said : “Complex procedures and infrastructure are a problem in India, especially for the SMEs, who find...
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