India-EU Free Trade Agreement is the 'mother of all deals': Govt

The India-European Union FTA will redefine their partnership, boosting trade, investment, and employment. Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary, called it the "mother of all deals," highlighting its 20 pillars and comprehensive nature.

India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is expected to redefine the partnership between India and the EU in the 21st century by boosting trade, investment, employment, mobility, digital trade and manufacturing, stated Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industry, highlighting 20 key pillars of the deal.

Speaking at a conference on next-generation trade pacts organised by FICCI in New Delhi on Tuesday, Jain said the agreement was concluded after "years of dialogue, debate and determination."

'Mother of all Deals': Scale and Significance

"You all know that this has happened after years of dialogue, debate and determination. We have been able to conclude this agreement," he said. Calling it the "mother of all deals", Jain said the first key pillar of the agreement is "shared values, scale and complementarity" between India and the EU.

He said the agreement connects the world's second and fourth largest economies, impacts nearly two billion people and covers almost one-third of global trade. "Total global trade in goods and services currently stand around 33 trillion. If you combine imports of EU and India, it is almost 11 trillion," he said.

Jain said India and the EU complement each other economically, with India being strong in labour-intensive exports and knowledge-based services, while the EU has strengths in high-tech and capital-intensive sectors such as finance, telecom and maritime services.

Unlocking Global Opportunities

The second major pillar highlighted by Jain was the ability of the agreement to unlock global opportunities through wider supply chains and existing FTA networks of India and the EU. He said India has signed nine FTAs with 38 countries in the last five years, while the EU has over 40 FTAs with 70 countries.

According to Jain, the agreement is also comprehensive in nature, covering 20 chapters including goods, services, intellectual property rights, sustainability and digital trade. He said 99.5 per cent of India's exports will get preferential tariff treatment in the EU market, while India will offer preferential treatment to nearly 97 per cent of EU exports.

Boost for Labour-Intensive Sectors

Jain highlighted that the agreement gives a major push to labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, apparel, gems and jewellery, leather, footwear, marine products and agriculture. He said India currently exports USD 33 billion worth of labour-intensive products to the EU, many of which face duties ranging from 10 per cent to 26 per cent. "All these duties will get eliminated," he stated.

He added that India currently exports only USD 7.2 billion worth of textiles and apparel to the EU, while total EU imports in the segment stand at USD 263 billion, indicating a large growth opportunity. Similarly, EU marine imports stand at USD 53 billion while India exports only around USD 1 billion to the region.

Jain also said the agreement protects sensitive sectors such as dairy, cereals and poultry, which have been excluded from concessions. On the automobile sector, Jain said the agreement provides "limited quota-based, long-phased solutions" that would support investments and help integrate India into EU value chains.

Expanding Horizons: Services, Mobility, and Digital Economy

The official also highlighted provisions related to rules of origin, digital trade, services exports, investments, mobility of professionals and social security agreements. He said India's fast-growing services exports sector would benefit significantly, with the EU covering 144 out of 155 services subsectors in its commitments.

The agreement also includes provisions for mobility of professionals, intra-corporate transferees, contractual service suppliers and independent professionals. Jain further said the agreement creates a facilitative framework for Indian students in Europe and supports digital payment integration between India and the EU, including cooperation on systems like UPI.

He also highlighted provisions on Global Capability Centres (GCCs), cybersecurity, e-commerce, paperless trading and protection of personal data.

Framework for Future Cooperation

On future trade disputes, Jain said the agreement includes rapid reaction mechanisms, transparency obligations and systems to address non-tariff barriers quickly. He added that the FTA also establishes a separate mechanism to address concerns related to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

"This partnership is not a superficial agreement. It is a comprehensive partnership... everything connected to economic area is covered," Jain said. (ANI)

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