Piyush Goyal to visit Brussels, pushing India-EU FTA negotiations forward.
Divergent views on market access and CBAM remain key negotiation challenges.
India and the EU are determined to conclude free trade deal by December 2025.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Brussels later this month to give an impetus to the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the EU, an official said on Saturday.
The minister will be in Europe to participate in the Berlin Global Dialogue, that will be held from October 23 to October 25, the official said.
After that, trade talks with the EU will be held in Brussels. He will meet EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.
Goyal's visit follows the conclusion of the 14th round of talks between the two sides from October 6 to October 10.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has also held talks with European Commission (EC) Director General for Trade (DG-Trade) Sabine Weyand in Brussels.
Engagements between the two sides have increased as they have decided to conclude the negotiations by December.
After his visit to Europe, Goyal will visit New Zealand. Both countries launched negotiations on a free trade agreement in March and have held three rounds of talks on it.
In June 2022, India and the EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA), an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications after a gap of over eight years. It was stalled in 2013 due to differences on the level of opening up markets.
India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $136.53bn in 2024-25 (exports worth $75.85bn and imports worth $60.68bn), making it the largest trading partner for goods.
The EU market accounts for about 17% of India's total exports, and the bloc's exports to India constitute 9% of its total overseas shipments.
Negotiation Hurdles and Progress
According to reports, the upcoming visit by the Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Brussels later this month comes after the 14th round of talks held from October 6 to October 10, 2025, in Brussels, covering 12 policy areas and 91 technical sessions.
According to NDTV, the resumption of these negotiations comes after a hiatus since 2013, with discussions officially restarting in 2021. Divergent views on market access for sensitive industries like dairy, cars and wines, as well as India's concerns about the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), have been persistent challenges to the FTA. Both parties remain determined to complete the deal by December 2025 in spite of these obstacles.
