The EU is set to sign a free trade agreement with India this month that excludes agriculture, Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs at a meeting behind closed doors on Wednesday.
The Commission president and European Council President António Costa will fly to India on 27 January to sign the agreement with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking at a meeting with her centre-right EPP group, von der Leyen said the agreement will be “without agriculture”, according to sources in the room.
She called the deal a “massive signal” for EU trade relations, despite the carve-out, adding that it had been “clear from the very beginning” that agriculture would not be included in the final package.
The deal would be the EU’s largest to date, opening access to a market representing around 25% of the world’s population.
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Agriculture remains politically sensitive in New Delhi, with 44% of India’s workforce employed in the sector, making further EU access to its food markets highly contentious.
Brussels had already confirmed that some agricultural products would be excluded from the talks, including dairy and sugar.
However, it appears that not all food and drink products will be excluded. Sabine Weyand, the EU’s top trade official, told EU ambassadors on Wednesday morning that the package agreed on agricultural tariffs privileges defensive interests on both sides, according to an EU official.
Still, she said that Brussels has reached an agreement with New Delhi on reducing 150% tariffs on European wine and spirits, the official added.
Meanwhile, protections for European traditional foods, known as geographical indications, are also off the table for this agreement.
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