The European Union will not fix a deadline for concluding free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India and would want a deal that serves the interests of both Europe and India for decades to come, top EU official Helena König told CNBC-TV18.

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"We have just concluded the fourth round of negotiations. There have been positive vibes and high political commitment on both sides, but its difficult to say how long the FTA would take. We would not want to compromise content for speed," said König, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service. König is in India to holds talks and review the India-EU partnership around climate action, environment, connectivity and the Indo-Pacific.

König pointed out that sustainable trade and development is at the core of EU's agenda during the FTA talks. "We would like gains from the FTA to reach a larger part of the society", she said. The EU delegation is also seeking removal of technical barriers to trade and alignment of rules and standards.

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Talking about the recent WTO ruling on ICT products, König said,"The WTO ruling was very clear and the expectation is that India lives up to the ruling and will scrap the additional tariffs. We expect India to take the logical step and abide by the ruling," said König.

The senior EU official also said that EU can take measures to rebalance trade but she would not like to speculate on any retaliatory action that may be taken in case India does not implement the ruling.

Reacting to a recent report in Kpler on how Russian oil is making a backdoor entry into Europe via countries like India, UAE, Turkey and China, "The aim of oil sanctions is to make sure we don't fund Russian war machinery. The price cap has had an impact in the sense that countries are getting oil at lower levels than the price cap. So it means Russia getting a lesser price for its oil and its economy".

König said that European Union would be open to talks with countries including India on the recent Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and what India is doing in order to check carbon leaking.

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First Published:May 9, 2023 7:01 PM IST