India, EU reaffirm commitment to early signing, implementation of FTA during Piyush Goyal's Europe visit
New Delhi, July 19
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal concluded a five-day visit to Spain, Belgium, Finland and Estonia with India and the European Union reaffirming their commitment to the early signing and implementation of the proposed Free Trade Agreement, according to a Ministry of Commerce and Industry release issued on Sunday.
The ministry said the visit, held from July 13 to 18, was aimed at deepening India's economic partnership with Europe, expanding investment ties and strengthening technology cooperation.
"Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to work towards the early signing and implementation of the India-EU FTA," the ministry said, referring to Goyal's meetings in Brussels with European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic and other senior EU leaders.
The release said the discussions also covered negotiations on the Investment Protection Agreement and the Geographical Indications Agreement, cooperation on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), regulatory simplification, market access for agricultural products, and duty derogation for Basmati rice and steel scrap.
During the Brussels visit, Goyal co-chaired the third India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Ministerial Meeting and welcomed the adoption of the 2026-27 TTC Action Plan. The ministry said India also proposed launching an India-EU dialogue on skills, education and talent mobility and raised the issue of listing Indian ship recycling yards.
In Spain, Goyal proposed an annual India-Spain Joint Commission meeting with business participation and unveiled a "10x10x10" vision to increase bilateral trade, investment and tourism tenfold over the next decade.
The two sides also agreed to advance technical discussions on interoperability between India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Spain's Bizum digital payments platform while identifying opportunities in automobiles, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, tourism and infrastructure.
In Finland, Goyal invited companies to expand manufacturing, research and development, exports and digital infrastructure investments in India. The ministry said, "India's scale and talent, combined with Finland's technological capabilities, offer significant opportunities for co-development and co-manufacturing."
The minister concluded the visit in Estonia, where both sides explored cooperation in digital governance, fintech, UPI integration, cybersecurity and emerging technologies. According to the ministry, Estonia also expressed strong support for the early implementation of the India-EU FTA.
"The visit imparted fresh momentum to India's expanding economic engagement with Europe," the ministry said, adding that the understandings reached are expected to strengthen technology partnerships, promote investment flows, improve market access for Indian exporters and expand cooperation in future-oriented sectors.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Good progress, but I'm concerned about CBAM. Europe's carbon border tax could hurt our steel and aluminium exports. We need technology transfer and financial support for green manufacturing, not just agreements. Hope Goyal ji pushed for that in Brussels.
The 10x10x10 vision with Spain sounds ambitious - increasing trade, investment and tourism tenfold each in a decade. Bold targets! With Finland's tech and Estonia's digital governance, this partnership could really boost our manufacturing and startup ecosystem. Let's hope implementation matches the vision 🤞
As someone who works in EU trade policy, this is significant. India is becoming a crucial partner for Europe after the Russia pivot. The skills and talent mobility dialogue is especially interesting - it could mean more Indian professionals working in EU tech sectors. But the GI agreement for things like Darjeeling tea and Kashmiri saffron needs robust enforcement.
Honestly, these FTAs take forever to implement. Remember the RCEP drama? But EU is different - they have standards we can match. The ship recycling yard listing issue is important for Alang and other yards. And pharmaceutical cooperation could be huge for our generic drug exports. Let's see real timelines, not just commitments. 🤔
The Finland collaboration on R&D is promising! Their clean tech and our scale - imagine co-developing affordable solar solutions or battery technology. Also good to see Estonia interested in our digital public infrastructure. But I worry about data localization norms in the EU vs India's requirements. Need a balanced agreement on that.