Expect India-EU FTA to be completed by 2024, says Danish envoy

The first round of talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) has concluded.

This is the second attempt by both sides to seal a free trade deal. Negotiations had first started in 2007 and continued till 2013 after which there was no action for eight years. The earlier talks had failed due to differences in custom duties on automobiles, spirits, and the movement of professionals.

To discuss the road ahead for India-EU FTA, CNBC-TV18 spoke to Freddy Svane, Danish envoy to India, and Bharat Joshi, co-chairman of Shipping & Logistics at CII National Committee.

Svane said there is political consensus on both sides about having the FTA. He expects the FTA to be done by 2024.

"There is new momentum, we have a new India emerging. Also, there is political consensus on both sides that we have to have this FTA. So I am pretty sure that this time we will see hard-core negotiations and hopefully we can keep the deadline of 2024," he added.

According to Joshi, geographical indication or GI could be an important area of negotiation.

"EU even now continues to be India's largest export market. EU is also a large source of inward investment for India and if there is an investment protection treaty, then there is every reason to believe that investments would become even larger and more prolific. The third important area could be around geographical indication or GI. So these are the three broad opportunities that are largely untapped or could be tapped deeper," Joshi said.

Also, Steve Baragona, a reporter at VOA discussed the implications of the US Supreme Court's decision to limit the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) power to fight climate change.