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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  Read more...

EU parliamentarians want Bangladesh govt to come with new projects

Dhaka: Recognizing the severity of the impacts of climate change on Bangladesh, European Union parliamentarians stated in Dhaka on Tuesday that the country deserved more external assistance and it should come up with new projects and seek money from abroad to finance them.

Impressed by the Bangladesh government’s initiatives taken so far, they assured their hosts that the European Parliament, a constituent assembly of 27 member countries of the European Union, would extend due support to help the world’s most vulnerable country to mobilize external resources for mitigating climate change effects and adapting to changes in the weather pattern.

A five-member delegation comprising Members of the European Parliament further said that the governments of the ‘conflict-ridden’ South Asian countries should join hands with each other to address the issues of climate change and to stop further escalation of regional conflicts.

‘Act now, otherwise we will all be sorry later! Unless steps are taken immediately to adjust to climate change by putting new money in new projects, the huge migratory impact of millions of people seeking safe refuge will make the whole world a less safe place,’ said British  Read more...