India, EU leaders hope for FTA in a year amidst differences
New Delhi: India and the European Union on Friday
hoped of clinching a free trade agreement in a year, but
non-trade issues like labour standards and environment remain
as sticky negotiating points.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reviewed the progress on
the negotiations for a Bilateral Trade and Investment
Agreement with Swedish Prime Minister and EU Chair Fredrik
Reinfeldt and European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso at the 10th India-EU Summit here.
"We have expressed the hope that the negotiations can be
completed in one year," Singh said addressing a joint press
conference with Reinfeldt and Barroso.
While the three leaders underscored the importance of the
market-opening pact for helping global economic recovery,
differences on the scope of the agreement were clear at the
media briefing by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma
and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton later in the day.
"So far as the trade agreement negotiations are
concerned, these issues (labour standards and environment)
come into play only in the sense that we are seeking...a good
opportunity for our workforce," Ashton said.
But Sharma was categorical. "Here we are talking of trade
in investment and services. No other extraneous issues are
part of the negotiations," he said.
While, the EU agreed that UN Convention was the right
platform for the climate change issue, it remained concerned
on other environmental areas like water.
Bureau Report