EU Seeks India To Speed Up FTA

Expressing doubt over WTO talks making headway in the near future, Austria on Dec 11 urged India to speed up free trade agreement with the European Union to enlarge markets for European and Indian business.Austrian Minister for Commerce and Labour Martin Bartenstein held talks with Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath in New Delhi on a host of bilateral and multilateral issues, including progress on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement and Doha Round of negotiations for a global trade deal.

Pascal Lamy (WTO Director General) thinks modalities for the Doha Round could be finished by February/March next. Both Nath and Bartenstein emphasised the timeline of 2008 end for completion of negotiations on India-EU FTA, officially known as Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement. The Austrian minister said the EU was working on a ''Bluecard'' scheme on the lines of the US Greencard'' for expatriates. Under the Bluecard scheme, there would be a uniform regime for all 27 EU members, he said adding that Austria and other EU members were keen on leveraging Indian human resource.