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INDIA - EUROPEAN UNION |
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1.
EU-India relations go back to the early 1960s. India was among the
first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the (then) EEC. The 1994 cooperation agreement signed between EU and India
took bilateral relations beyond merely trade and economic cooperation.
Together with the Joint Political Statement signed in 1993 it opened the
way for annual ministerial meetings and a broad political dialogue. Since then, dialogues have been held at different levels and
at regular intervals. 2.
The first India-EU Summit in Lisbon in June 2000 marked a watershed
in the evolution of this relationship.
A decision was taken to hold annual summits.
Since then there have been four Summit-level interactions, the last
being the Fifth Summit at The Hague on 8 November 2004.
India-EU relations have grown exponentially from what used to be a
purely trade and economic driven relationship to one covering all areas of
interaction. The 5th
Summit at The Hague was a landmark Summit for it endorsed the EU’s
proposal to upgrade its relationship with India to a ‘Strategic
Partnership’. 3. The EU, which has strategic partnerships with only five other
countries (USA, Canada, Russia, Japan and China), now sees India as a
“regional and global leader …..
engaging increasingly on equal terms with other world powers”.
4. The frequency and intensity of India’s contacts with the EU have
grown exponentially since 2000. In order to provide greater coherence and
focus to all the various activities being undertaken as well as undertake
new initiatives, the European Commission has prepared a comprehensive
Communication outlining in detail its views on various areas in which a
strategic partnership could be forged with India. This document examines
sector by sector how current activities can be streamlined and new actions
launched. When implemented, they will be the basis of a stronger and more
intensive relationship over the entire gamut of exchanges from political
to multilateral, economic to science & technology, academic, cultural
and civil society. 5.The
EU (as a bloc of 25 nations) is India’s largest export destination and
has a share of over 24% in her total exports. In the year 2003, India was
19th largest exporter to EU and occupied a share of 1.35% in the total EU
imports. On the other hand, India was 16th largest importer of EU’s
products and had a share of 1.46% in EU’s global exports. India’s
exports to EU in 2003 were Euros 13.30 bn and imports were worth Euros
14.20 bn.[1]
The EU
is one of the largest sources of FDI for India. However, the current level
of FDI from the EU is far below potential. Taking the period from 1991 to
2003, the total FDI approvals for EU-15 have approximately been $15
billion. The actual cumulative inflows are however around 6.2 billion
Euros (US$ 5.6 billion), as per Eurostat Data. The most important
countries in the EU for FDI are UK, Germany, and Netherlands followed by
France, Italy and Belgium. 6. The 5th
India-EU Summit was held in The Hague on 8th November 2004, under the
Dutch Presidency of the European Union. PM led the Indian delegation,
which comprised the External Affairs Minister Shri. Natwar Singh, Commerce
and Industry Minister Shri. Kamal Nath and then National Security Advisor
Late Shri J.N. Dixit. The EU side was headed by Dutch Prime Minister
Jan-Peter Balkenende, in his capacity as President-in-Office of the
European Council, and included Mr. Romano Prodi, then President of the
European Commission, Mr. Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for
Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Mr. Pascal Lamy, then European
Commissioner for Trade. 7.
This Summit represented a landmark in India-EU relations, in view
of the launching of the India-EU Strategic Partnership. A comprehensive
Communication
was
presented by the European Commission in June 2004. India had submitted a
preliminary but detailed Response
to the EC paper in August 2004, where it had welcomed the positive
orientation of the EC paper and several of the proposals it contained, in
addition to suggesting some new initiatives of our own. In order to carry
forward and intensify relations in various areas on the basis of these
documents, the EU and India are currently engaged in preparing a Joint
Action Plan. This Joint Action Plan will be endorsed at the 6th
India-EU Summit in New Delhi next year, in the form of a Joint Political
Declaration. 8.
As in the past, a Joint Press Statement was adopted at the
conclusion of the Summit, reflecting our shared perceptions on various
issues of mutual concern. The Joint Declaration on Cultural Cooperation,
annexed to the Joint Press Statement, provides a broad framework for
enhanced cooperation in culture, including exchanges of scholars and
students as well as techniques and know-how in conservation and
restoration of works of art and monuments. 9.
At the Summit, it was agreed to strengthen the dialogue on
disarmament and non-proliferation, enhance consultations on UN reforms,
intensify joint efforts to fight terrorism and to increase Parliamentary
and civil society interaction between the two sides. The EU side
acknowledged India’s role in addressing crisis situations in its
neighbourhood and welcomed India’s determination to take forward the
composite dialogue with Pakistan. It was also agreed to address issues
that would help enhance trade and investment relations.
Two proposals of special interest were the decision to set up an
Energy Panel to discuss cooperation in energy matters and an Environment
Forum, which would include business and civil society representatives, to
discuss environment issues and possibilities for cooperation. It was also
agreed to continue negotiations with the EU side to sign the Framework
Agreement to formalize India’s participation in the Galileo satellite
navigation project. India reiterated its desire to participate in the
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Project for
generating energy from nuclear fusion. 10.
PM also had an interactive session with the ‘India-EU Business
Round Table’ – a select group of Indian and European CEOs. This was a
new initiative, which indicated the mutual interest in enhancing trade and
investment. Bilateral
Agreements Bilateral
Investment Protection:
India
has signed Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (BIPA) with 16 of
the 25 EU Member States. Double
Taxation Avoidance:
India
has Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) with 18 out of 25 EU
Member States. Negotiations for signing DTAAs with Lithuania, Estonia,
Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia are in advanced stages. S&
T Agreement:
India
and EU have signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of Science
& Technology in the year 2001. The agreement also assures a
predictable and secure IPR regime for the EU companies and research
institutions interested in cooperation with India. A steering committee
formed under the Agreement to facilitate mutual discussions, and exchange
of views held its first meeting in Brussels on 4-5th March 2004
where it drew up a Programme of Cooperation (PoC). Information
Technology:
India
and EU have signed a Joint Vision Statement for promoting cooperation in
the field of information and communications technology. The Vision
Statement was issued at the India-EU Summit held in Delhi in November
2001. This provides a framework for exchange of views on regulatory
practices, mutual cooperation in regulatory and industry initiatives and
specific issues/projects of bilateral interest. Customs:
India
and the EU have concluded a customs cooperation agreement in order to
establish a framework for mutual cooperation and assistance in preventing
frauds, tax evasions and other economic offences in this field. The
Agreement was initialled at the India-EU Summit in Delhi in November 2003
and subsequently it was signed at Brussels in 2004. January
7, 2005 _____________________ [1]
This does not
include value of trade in services for which no data are published. On
the basis of the data for such trade for 2002 (2003 yet to be
received) separately obtained from Eurostat, there was a surplus in
favour of EU to the extent of 322 million Euros in 2002.
India exported services worth 2.4 billion Euros while EU
exported services worth 2.7 billion Euros to India. The categories of
services used for such estimation are those according to the IMF
Balance of Payments Manual Classification for Services Transactions. |
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European Union (EU) |
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Ministry Of External Affairs, India |