Free trade, climate change to top India-EU summit

New Delhi: India and the European Union will focus on pushing for a free trade pact and narrowing differences over climate change at their annual summit this week, a European diplomat said Wednesday.

The two sides have held seven rounds of talks since 2007, and Daniele Smadja, the EU’s ambassador to India, said the leaders must now ‘bring political momentum into the discussions.’

Among the hurdles faced by the planned pact are intellectual property rights disputes, high Indian taxes on wines and spirits from Europe, and EU concerns over child labour in India.

‘We have to get into exchange of concessions, and these are difficult and need time,’ Smadja said.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will attend Friday’s meeting.

The Indian side will be headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The EU is India’s largest trade partner with annual bilateral trade totalling around 77 billion euros (110 billion dollars). India ranks ninth behind South Korea in the EU’s list of major trading partners.

Besides trade, climate change will also be a priority with just weeks to go before the UN Climate Change meet in Copenhagen in December, Smadja said.

The EU has committed to reducing its emissions of harmful greenhouse gas by 20 per cent from 1990 levels and has said it could increase the target to 30 per cent if an international agreement was reached in Copenhagen.

New Delhi however is resisting any binding emission cuts and demanding finance and technology from rich countries to help reduce emissions.