In a summit that concluded in May, India and the European Union announced that they would resume talks to conclude a free trade agreement b...
In a summit that concluded in May, India and the European Union announced that they would resume talks to conclude a free trade agreement between them.
Talks on an India-European Union free trade agreement first began in 2007 but stalled after 16 rounds of discussion between the parties over six years. The resumption of talks on an agreement has raised hopes for the many Indian manufacturers and exporters who participate in the 60 billion+ euro annual trade with the European Union. The renewed debate about whether the reciprocal reduction of tariffs and trade barriers between India and a developed economy like the European Union would actually economically benefit the country.
Given that the European Union is India’s third-largest trading partner, however, countless Indian industries will undoubtedly benefit from the lower tariffs and significantly improved access to the European Union market that a trade agreement would bring.
As negotiations progress between India and the European Uunion on this front, a second, oft-ignored dimension to a trade agreement worth considering is changes to India’s legislative and regulatory framework that the European Union will likely insist on as a pre-condition to entering into an agreement.
Called “level playing field” provisions, these mandatory regulatory changes have been in the...
