"We have made great progress in the negotiations for an agreement on free trade between India and the EU", so much so that "now the framework for a final agreement is emerging". This was announced by the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, speaking in Mumbai before the Chambers of Commerce of India and the European Union, on the sidelines of the India-EU summit. “I am confident that in the coming months we will be able to conclude the negotiation process – he adds -. For the European Union, opening up to free trade with India represents something more than import-export: it means opening up to a strategic partner in the world”.
The agreement that appears to be in the offing "also sends a clear signal about the determination to resist protectionism in order to embrace economic cooperation". Words that seem to resonate as a call to China, another increasingly strategic Asian giant on the international scene and with very different propensities. The negotiations between India and the European Union should not come as a surprise: "Trade represents a very important part of the European strategy for the revival of growth". In fact, Barroso recalls, the EU's approach to recovery is based on three pillars: short-term anti-crisis measures, structural reforms to avert future crises, and "long-term growth strategies based on the free market". Therefore, concludes Barroso, "a dynamic cooperation between India and the EU is of vital importance not only for the two subjects in themselves, but at the same time for facing global challenges".
