Hindustan Times | 12 October 2024
Drop ‘irrational standards’ in trade talks, Goyal advises EU
By Rajeev Jayaswal
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Friday advised the European Union to shun imposing “irrational standards” such as carbon tax, which he said act as trade barriers, and forbade it from treating India as a country that would “sign on dotted lines for anything”.
Goyal’s reference is to EU’s move to bring sustainability issues while negotiating the free trade agreement. He made the remarks at the launch of the Federation of European Business in India (FEBI) which was attended by representatives of major European firms and diplomats.
The minister reiterated India’s position that sustainability issues are non-trade matters and are being dealt in other specific multilateral forums. Raising such matters in the ongoing negotiations for an India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) would not be fruitful, the minister said, adding that he has asked India’s chief negotiator “to express to the European side that extraneous items, which have no relevance to trade or business are hurting the interests of trade”.
The ninth round of the FTA talks concluded recently on September 27. The first India-EU FTA negotiation that was launched in 2007 was suspended in 2013 due to similar sensitivities. Interests were renewed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the Leaders’ Meeting on May 8, 2021 at the invitation of European Council’s president Charles Michel.
Negotiations were formally launched again in June 2022 by Goyal and European Commission executive vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis. Goyal on Friday hoped that the new government would take rational and practical stand. “I’m eagerly looking forward to working with the new government in the European Union,” he said.
Goyal said he is willing “to fast-track” the ongoing FTA negotiations like he did with Australia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) while treating each differently because all partners have different economic situations.
