EU-India Trade Talks Stumble

Talks between India and the EU last week failed to make significant progress on their long-awaited trade deal, despite the goal of concluding the negotiations in the near future. The Brussels meetings reportedly ended with “substantial gaps,” despite hopes that last month’s ministerial-level discussions could have set the stage for an imminent breakthrough.

Intellectual property, insurance, and data security remain key sticking points between the two parties, official negotiators cited by Indian newspaper Business Standard have said. Bilateral trade between the two sides hit €79.9 billion in 2011, according to EU statistics, up from €28.6 billion in 2003. Negotiations for a bilateral pact have been ongoing since 2007; if completed, the deal would cover a market of 1.7 billion people.