NEW DELHI: The European Union’s policies and actions, including rules related to deforestation, carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), non-adherence to common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), have adversely impacted the Indian industry, commerce and industry minister Pyush Goyal has said, emphasising the importance of fair, equitable, and balanced trade practices.
“Irrational standards set by European Union act as a trade barrier to expanding trade,” Goyal said at the launch of the Federation of European Business in India (Febi) on Friday, where he made some tough talk about EU’s proposed rules such as CBAM. Policymakers in India have termed the proposed EU carbon tax as “unilateral and not helpful”, and termed it as a “trade barrier which will hurt countries including India”.
The EU’s anti-deforestation law, which plans to impose restrictions on overseas companies if their products are found to have caused loss of forests, has also alarmed Indian industry and policymakers. Under intense pressure, the roll out of the proposed law has been pushed by one year. Goyal said the world today cannot work on the principle of retaliation but has to find solutions through mutual cooperation.
About the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the EU, the minister said that the focus should be on business and trade issues and not on extraneous items falling outside the remit of FTA, an official statement said.
Goyal said that two way trade between Europe and India can grow exponentially if both sides understand each other’s concern and cooperate meaningfully.