| Date: |
20-04-2015 |
| Subject: |
EU trade policy undermined, say members |
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NEW DELHI: Many European Union member-states have expressed their disappointment before the foreign ministry over the manner in which EU handled India's offer for a summit meeting in mid-April as part of Modi's European sojourn.
Speaking to TOI on condition of anonymity, the ambassador of a top EU nation said important EU members like France and Germany which did not oppose EU's lackadaisical approach to India were merrily engaging Modi on their own for commercial purposes.
"Now, we have one country successfully selling fighter planes, another wanting to sell whatever it can. Where does that leave EU and its overall trade policy with India?" the envoy said, adding that EU's common external trade policy had been undermined with the summit not taking place anytime soon.
Another senior diplomat from a north European country said an impression had been created that smaller EU countries had more of a hand in preventing the summit from happening. "Many member states were looking forward to the Modi visit as an opportunity to revive the stalled India-EU FTA negotiations," the diplomat said.
Talks for FTA have not taken place since 2013 with both sides at loggerheads over issues like automobiles and India's demand for a data-secure nation status. The BJP government is currently reviewing FTAs signed by the UPA government with other countries but after his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Modi expressed hope that the dialogue with EU for FTA would resume soon and that the two sides would arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement. Merkel said both sides would need to make compromises to achieve such an agreement.
While EU says a summit may still take place later this year, Indian officials remain cold saying that they will wait to see what the bloc proposes.
The European diplomats, however, stopped short of directly blaming Italian diplomat Frederica Mogherini who serves as the chief of EU foreign policy for the summit cancellation. "There's too much at stake for just one person to take such decisions," said a diplomat.
Mogherini has on several occasions spoken out against the delay in trial of two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen, warning that the issue had the potential to impact overall EU-India relations and may also have a bearing on the global fight against piracy.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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