India–EU FTA to be signed on Jan 27, agriculture kept off the table: Report

The European Union will formalise its largest-ever trade deal with India on 27 January, sending its top officials to New Delhi to sign an agreement that notably excludes agriculture, according to a report by Euractiv (European media). The timing and scope of the deal highlight both the urgency in Brussels and the political constraints that continue to shape EU–India trade relations.

Ursula von der Leyen told Members of the European Parliament behind closed doors on Wednesday that the agreement would be signed this month and would be “without agriculture,” according to sources present at the meeting, according to the report.

The Commission president and European Council President António Costa are scheduled to travel to India on 27 January to formally sign the agreement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking to her centre-right EPP group, von der Leyen described the deal as a “massive signal” for EU trade relations, even with the carve-out. She said it had been “clear from the very beginning” that agriculture would not be included in the final package.

Despite the exclusion, the agreement would be the EU’s biggest trade deal to date, opening access to a market that represents around 25% of the world’s population.

Agriculture has remained a politically sensitive issue in India, where 44% of the workforce is employed in the sector, making expanded EU access to food markets highly contentious. Brussels has already confirmed that several agricultural products, including dairy and sugar, are excluded from the talks.

However, the carve-out is not absolute. Sabine Weyand, the EU’s top trade official, told EU ambassadors on Wednesday morning that the agreed package on agricultural tariffs “privileges defensive interests on both sides,” according to an EU official.

She added that Brussels and New Delhi have still reached an understanding on reducing steep tariffs, currently as high as 150%, on European wine and spirits. Protections for European traditional foods under geographical indications, however, are not part of this agreement.