Trade - India
Centre-right majority in EP supports damaging terms for EU-India trade agreement
Today the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the planned Free Trade Agreement with India. The Greens were critical of the outcome, which wants an FTA that focuses on market access for EU companies, at the expense of fair trade. After the vote, Green MEP Ska Keller said:
"We regret that a centre-right majority in the EP succeeded in its push for unlimited access for European companies to the Indian market at the expense of fair trade. However, the narrow outcome of the vote shows that there are serious concerns regarding the foreseen EU-India Agreement.
"Crucially, MEPs supported a Green demand that the agreement must not restrict the production of generic medicinal products. India is globally the biggest producer of generic medicine, which is crucial for fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS in developing countries.
"India needs special protection mechanisms, to help put it on equal trading terms. India is home to most of the world's poorest people and above 90% of employees work in the informal sector. This makes them vulnerable to competition by European companies. We regret that the centre-right majority failed to support measures that would address these concerns. We can only hope that the Commission will not take the vote as a carte blanche to push through an aggressive liberalisation agenda in the EU-India trade agreement."
