THE European Union in a special two-day summit in Brussels, underlined the
importance of building up bilateral trade relations with key emerging economies
like India and has indicated that more negotiations will be needed to sort out
the remaining issues before a free trade agreement (FTA) with India can be
signed.
The leaders said that while the EU remained committed to
further development of the multilateral trading system, its immediate focus is
on developing bilateral trade relations which could be very beneficial for
promoting growth and employment and make a positive contribution to the
multilateral system. At concluding session of summit EU said that building on
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and by going further and faster in
promoting openness, bilateral agreements will help to clear the way for further
progress at the multilateral level.
The heads of the state stressed the
need for prioritising those negotiations that will provide most benefit in terms
of growth and jobs. They also noted that the EU's agenda with China is "broad
and ambitious". Priorities in the short term should focus on investment, market
access, procurement and intellectual property rights and should be based on a
constructive and strategic engagement.
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