Making free trade possible THE relationship between India and the European Union does not have the same hyper-resonance as New Delhi's other bilateral relations. Yet, as the annual EU-India summit testifies, both sides are engaged on issues of vital importance, said The Hindu in an editorial published Tuesday. Excerpts: The 11th summit, for which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flew to Brussels last week, was significant for several reasons. Both sides hope to conclude a free trade agreement by the spring of 2011. EU is among India's biggest trading partners. Last year, the two-way trade in goods and services was worth €69 billion. The 27-nation EU is also a big investor in India. The Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement, in the works since 2007, aims to dismantle tariffs on most products traded by the two sides. Expectations are that it could push bilateral trade to as much as €100 billion. But the negotiations had stumbled on EU insistence over including a clause on sustainable development that would hold trade and investors to strict human rights, particularly labor rights, and environmental standards. India had resisted this. It is unclear if the joint declaration's reference to “significant progress” in the negotiations means the two sides have resolved the issue. The EU had indicated it would not let this condition stand in the way of the agreement, but it is in India's own interests to follow best practices while ensuring adequate protection to the interests of domestic trade and industry and the workforce. Both sides are also trying to negotiate two other major irritants – a dispute over intellectual property rights relating to Indian-made generic drugs, and the resistance of EU member-states to free movement of Indian professionals. The accommodation of Indian concerns on both is crucial to a satisfactory trade agreement. __
