“The negotiators from the EU are coming here for the talks. Negotiations on goods and investment are high on the agenda,” said an official, who did not wish to be identified.
The two sides relaunched FTA negotiations after a nine-year hiatus and initiated separate negotiations for an Investment Protection Agreement and an Agreement on Geographical Indications in June.
The EU has proposed an anti-fraud clause in the goods chapter which deals with preventing, detecting and combating breaches or circumventions of customs legislation related to the preferential treatment, said people with knowledge of the matter.
The first round of talks, held in June, focused on the EU’s proposals for 18 chapters. The second round took place in October in Brussels.
Discussions have happened on chapters on issues including digital trade, government procurement, anticompetitive conduct, merger control and subsidies, state-owned enterprises, dispute settlement, good regulatory practices, and energy and raw materials.
The EU’s share in foreign investment inflows to India rose to 18% from 8% in the last decade, making the bloc India’s largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI). Between April 2000 and September 2020, FDI inflows from the EU to India totalled $86.82 billion.
