Application of the new trade and sustainable development rules to the EU-India negotiations
6.7.2022
Priority question for written answer P-002453/2022
to the Commission
Rule 138
Saskia Bricmont (Verts/ALE), Sara Matthieu (Verts/ALE)
On 22 June 2022, the Commission published its proposals to make future trade agreements more sustainable, starting with sustainability impact assessments investigating any relevant issue identified by stakeholders. The Commission announced that the new set of rules will apply for future negotiations. On June 27, the EU and India will hold their first round of negotiations with view to concluding a free trade agreement (FTA), an investment protection agreement, and an agreement on geographical indications by the end of 2023. However, on the margins of the WTO 12th Ministerial Conference, India expressed its reluctance to couple trade and climate.
- 1.It takes more than a year to finalise a sustainability impact assessment, and the goal is to conclude the talks by the end of 2023, so how can the Commission guarantee that stakeholders will be involved in the process which will inform the subsequent negotiations for an FTA? When will stakeholders be invited to contribute and how?
- 2.If India eventually opposes an implementation roadmap and there are numerous sustainability concerns, would this lead to a collapse of the talks?