FTA with India likely after LS election, says EU envoy

The proposed India-European Union (EU) free-trade agreement (FTA) is likely to be inked in the first half of 2015, according to the EU ambassador to India Joao Cravinho.

Cravinho said: ?Both the countries have come a long way and most of the issues have been addressed in the last seven years. However, there are some issues with regard to wine & spirits, automobiles and car parts, services and to lesser degree to (government) procurement.?

Negotiations for the free trade agreement or bilateral trade and investment agreement (BTIA) started in 2007. However, both sides have so far failed to reach an agreement due to disputes over tariff cut and market access.

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?We are too close not to achieve the final agreement. The European Commission is going to witness elections around the same time as in India in May. Therefore, we are not expecting the deal to be inked before that,? he added.

When asked if the free-trade agreement that the EU was negotiating with the US would shift the focus from the agreement with India, the envoy said there was not ?too much time but there is open-ness from our side because (it is) in the European interest and it will not affect trade with India.?