Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will hold meetings with European Union’s Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic in Brussels over two days later this week on key areas of the proposed free trade agreement, aiming to narrow divergences and ensure clarity on outstanding matters to expedite the conclusion of the deal.
The ministerial meetings will be held on January 8-9 and build on the groundwork laid during high-level discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday between Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal, and the Director-General for Trade of the European Commission Sabine Weyand.
Statement issued by the Commerce Ministry
“The primary objective of these interactions is to provide strategic guidance to the negotiating teams, resolve pending issues, and expedite the conclusion of a balanced and ambitious agreement,” a statement from the commerce ministry said.
The leaders are also expected to carry out detailed deliberations across key areas of the proposed agreement.
India is pushing for zero-duty access for its labor-intensive sectors—such as textiles, leather, apparel, gems and jewellery, and handicrafts.
India-EU FTA
Both India and the EU have expressed strong political resolve to deliver a comprehensive deal. The upcoming talks are expected to reaffirm the commitment of both sides to a rules-based trading framework and a modern economic partnership that safeguards the interests of farmers and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises while integrating Indian industries into global supply chains.
The European Union is currently India’s largest trading partner and a key investor. Bilateral merchandise trade between India and EU stood at $ 90.7 billion dollars in 2024-25 with India’s exports at $ 51.0 billion and imports at $ 39.7 billion. In contrast the bilateral goods trade between India and US was $ 84.2 billion with Indian exports at $ 53.0 billion and imports at $ 31.2 billion.
Goyal’s visit to Brussels comes just a month after the visit of EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and other senior officials related to trade to advance the FTA talks. Goyal and Sefcovic held two days of extensive negotiations in December to move the FTA towards conclusion.
Both sides had set a deadline of December-end to wrap up the discussions on the FTA and officials now say the deal would definitely be doable by the first quarter of calendar year 2026.
India and the EU started negotiations on FTA in July 2022. Since then they have held 14 rounds of negotiations. The proposed FTA deals with 23 policy areas, including trade in goods, services, investment, trade remedies, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, competition, government procurement, dispute settlement, intellectual property rights, geographical indications, and sustainable development.
Most of these chapters have already been closed. India has also taken up the issue of imposition of carbon tax through Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by the EU that is expected to put Indian exporters of steel and aluminium at a serious disadvantage.
In addition to the main agreement, both sides are also negotiating deals on Geographical Indications and Investment Protection.