Trade talks with India to roll into the new year, EU trade chief says

BRUSSELS — The EU aims to seal a free-trade agreement with India by late January instead of the end of the year as initially envisaged, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told POLITICO.

“The plan is that, most probably in the second week of January, that [Indian Commerce Minister] Piyush Goyal would come here” for another round of negotiations, Šefčovič said in an interview on Monday.

“There is a common determination that we should do our utmost to get to the [free-trade agreement] and use every possible day until the Indian national day,” he added.

India celebrates its annual Republic Day on Jan. 26, and both Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa have been invited as guests of honor.

Von der Leyen and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged in February to clinch the free-trade agreement (FTA) by the end of the year — something even they recognized would be a steep target.

But a number of issues keep gumming up the works, Šefčovič said, including that India is linking its objections to the EU’s planned carbon border tax and its steel safeguard measures with the EU’s own demand to reduce its tariffs on cars.

Šefčovič traveled again to New Delhi last week in an effort to clear major hurdles to conclude the EU’s negotiations with the world’s most populous country.

“The ideal scenario would be — like we announced with Indonesia — that we completed the political negotiations on the FTA,” Šefčovič said. “That would be my ideal scenario, but we are not there yet.”

The EU and Indonesia concluded their agreement in September.

“It’s extremely, extremely challenging,” he said, adding: “The political ambition of our president and the prime minister to get this done this year was absolutely crucial for us to make progress.”