Sources: ‘Signature in 2025 decided to visit Von der Leyen in Delhi’
India and the European Union are exploring the possibility of negotiating the free trade agreement by chanting it “in phases”. This was reported by the Indian press agency PTI, which attributes the news to a Delhi officer who asks for anonymity. The official added that the interviews are advancing positively after the visit to Delhi at the end of February of the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the college of European commissioners, during which the EU president and the Premier Modi agreed to conclude the expected Treaty of free trade by the end of 2025.
India has followed this “phases” mode in negotiations on commercial agreements with Australia. The method allows the contracting countries to find a first agreement on the less controversial sectors and to postpone the most complex issues to a second phase.
After the tenth round of the negotiations held in Brussels, last month, the next meeting between the two parts is scheduled in Delhi in May.
The talks between the two parts resumed in June 2022, after a stall of over eight years. Europe is the first commercial partner of India: in the financial year 2023-2024 bilateral exchanges were 137.41 billion dollars. The European market is worth 17% of the total Indian exports, while the EU exports 9% of its total exports to India.
The urgent signature of the agreement took on a particular meaning following the need for a reorganization of global trade after the announcement of the duties by the Trump Administration.
