Latest news with #Indo-EU
The Hindu
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Event on ‘Waste to renewable energy' held
A European Union delegation, in collaboration with EURAXESS India and with support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), conducted an information and networking event here the other day on 'Waste to renewable energy.' The event was hosted at the Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (ANERT) headquarters. The event was aimed at encouraging joint Indo-EU research and innovation projects in green hydrogen. The event brought together scientists, innovators, academic representatives and early-stage companies. The call offers a combined funding of €10 million from the EU and ₹90 crore from MNRE, with a focus on technologies for hydrogen production using waste as feedstock. The EU delegation was led by Pierrick Fillon-Ashida, First Counsellor and Head of Research and Innovation at the Delegation of the European Union to India, along with Vivek Dham, Advisor for Research and Innovation. 'India and the EU are natural partners in driving the green hydrogen transition. Through joint calls like these, we are not only investing in innovation but also in mutual trust, co-development, and a cleaner energy future,' Mr. Pierrick Fillon-Ashida was quoted as saying in a statement.
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Free trade must also be fair trade
With Donald Trump guillotining the multilateral trading order by first declaring differentiated tariffs on other countries and then announcing that the US will conduct bilateral negotiations to remove them, there are many who are mourning the demise of free trade in the world. While what is happening today is far from ideal, free trade always had an Orwellian twist of being freer for richer countries. This inequality of opportunity in accessing export markets was achieved through myriad mechanisms other than tariffs which put a prohibitive economic burden on developing countries. These non-tariff barriers (NTBs) have taken multiple forms over the years; sometimes as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, sometimes as hefty financial obligations on developing economies in the name of trade facilitation and, in the more recent period, concerns around environmental sustainability. There is nothing wrong in principle with the purpose which these NTBs seek to serve. But the advanced countries dictating them conveniently forget the point about the historical asymmetry in the development of capitalism which means that today's 'clean' rich countries have exploited these 'dirty' opportunities to grow their economic fortunes. The grandstanding over the environment on account of advanced economies is particularly hypocritical because their agro-industrial complexes continue to enjoy a large subsidy despite being heavily carbon intensive. That the global climate accord was far from delivering the financial resources that advanced economies should have given to developing countries for mitigation of the climate crisis even before US President Donald Trump killed the Paris deal only makes the entire thing even more obnoxious. These entrenched asymmetries, when read with the EU insisting on 'sustainability' clauses – HT reported it on Monday – in the ongoing Indo-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations are reason enough for India to not agree to such demands. Ceding to such demands will amount to a double injustice: India being shortchanged in the ongoing bilateral negotiations where its exporters lose market access for not adhering to what are extremely expensive standards, and the largest block of advanced economies unfairly imposing these conditions on a developing economy. The importance of holding back against any such concession in the ongoing Indo-EU FTA negotiations is even more important because it could set a precedent in other ongoing negotiations. This is not to dismiss the importance of environmental sustainability. It is only to reiterate that free trade must also be fair to be palatable to the entire world.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU president meets Modi as Trump's tariffs loom large
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is in Delhi to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties with India amid looming tariff threats from the US. von der Leyen had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. The two sides discussed ways to further strengthen the Indo-EU strategic partnership. "In an era of conflicts and intense competition, you need trusted friends. For Europe, India is such a friend and a strategic ally," von der Leyen earlier said on social media platform X. von der Leyen is accompanied by the entire EU College of Commissioners and it is the first such visit after the European parliamentary elections in June 2024. "We aim to advance discussions on a free trade agreement, expand cooperation on digital technologies, particularly AI, and accelerate our work on clean technologies like electric vehicles and green hydrogen," von der Leyen said in an interview to Times of India ahead of her visit. India and EU relaunched talks on a long pending free trade agreement in 2021 and are set to have another round in March. An India-EU summit is also being held later in the year to "unveil a strategic agenda", von der Leyen said. Brussels is keen to expand its relationships in the Indo-Pacific as cracks deepen between the US and Europe over trade tariffs and Ukraine following Donald Trump's return to the White House. Trump has said he is planning to hit goods made in the European Union with tariffs of 25%, claiming the bloc was created to "screw the US". The European Union said it would react "firmly and immediately against unjustified tariffs". Given the backdrop, analysts say strong trade relations with India have become more important than ever for the EU. A trade deal has proven difficult so far due to differences in areas like agriculture and manufacturing. Despite renewed negotiations "the two sides have little to show for the talks thus far", Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a think tank, said in a note. However, some 6,000 EU companies operate in India and the bloc is India's largest trading partner in goods, with bilateral trade reaching $135bn (£107bn) in 2022-23, nearly doubling in the last decade. After years of scepticism about free trade deals, India is now actively signing agreements and negotiating with multiple countries and blocs. India and the UK restarted free trade talks this week, nearly a year after negotiations were paused ahead of general elections in both countries. Last year, India signed a $100bn free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - a group of four European countries that are not members of the European Union - after almost 16 years of negotiations.
BBC News
28-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
EU president in Delhi to talk trade with Modi as Trump tariffs loom
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is in Delhi to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties with India amid looming tariff threats from the der Leyen is due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. "In an era of conflicts and intense competition, you need trusted friends. For Europe, India is such a friend and a strategic ally," von der Leyen said on social media platform two sides will discuss taking the Indo-EU "strategic partnership to the next level", when she meets Modi, she added. Von der Leyen is being accompanied by the entire EU College of Commissioners, the first such visit after the European parliamentary elections in June 2024."We aim to advance discussions on a free trade agreement, expand cooperation on digital technologies, particularly AI, and accelerate our work on clean technologies like electric vehicles and green hydrogen," von der Leyen said in an interview to Times of and EU relaunched talks on a long pending free trade agreement in 2021 and are set to have another round in India-EU summit is also being held later in the year to "unveil a strategic agenda", von der Leyen is keen to expand its relationships in the Indo-Pacific as cracks deepen between the US and Europe over trade tariffs and Ukraine, following Donald Trump's return to the White has said he is planning to hit goods made in the European Union with tariffs of 25%, claiming the bloc was created to "screw the US".The European Union said it would react "firmly and immediately against unjustified tariffs".Given the backdrop, analysts say strong trade relations with India have become more important than ever for the EU.A trade deal has proven difficult so far due to differences in areas like agriculture and manufacturing. Despite renewed negotiations "the two sides have little to show for the talks thus far", Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a think tank, said in a some 6,000 EU companies operate in India and the bloc is India's largest trading partner in goods, with bilateral trade reaching $135bn (£107bn) in 2022-23, nearly doubling in the last years of scepticism about free trade deals, India is now actively signing agreements and negotiating with multiple countries and and the UK restarted free trade talks this week, nearly a year after negotiations were paused ahead of general elections in both year, India signed a $100bn free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - a group of four European countries that are not members of the European Union - after almost 16 years of negotiations.
