The 13th EU-India
Summit will be held on 30 March 2016 in Brussels and on the agenda will be
political cooperation, trade, energy, climate change as well as research and
innovation issues. The last such Summit was held in Delhi in February 2012 
although EU and India leaders met on the side lines of the G20 in
November last year. The European side will be represented by EU President
Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker whilst India
will be represented by its Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
although EU and India leaders met on the side lines of the G20 in
November last year. The European side will be represented by EU President
Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker whilst India
will be represented by its Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Political and
security cooperation
The EU and India
discuss political and security matters in a number of ways and at various
levels, including Summits. Political cooperation covers security issues such as
non-proliferation/disarmament, counter-terrorism, counter-piracy,
cyber-security and human rights.
The 11th EU-India
Summit held in Brussels in December 2010 adopted a Joint Declaration on International Terrorism . Human rights are also addressed in the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue.
. Human rights are also addressed in the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue.
Trade – EU is
India's largest trading partner
The EU is India's
largest trading partner, accounting for 13% of India's overall trade, ahead of
China (9.6%) and the United States (8.5%). India is the EU's 9th largest
partner, with the value of EU exports to India amounting to €37.9 billion in
2015. The EU is also the largest investor in India, with investment stock
valued at €34.7 billion in 2013, and is the primary destination for Indian
foreign investment. Given the significant potential in EU-India trade, the two
parties have been negotiating an ambitious Free Trade Agreement since 2007,
covering effective market access and investment.
Cooperation on
climate change, environment, research and innovation
The EU and India
share a number of interests across a range of policy areas, including:
§
Energy and climate change;
§ Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
§
Education.
India has rapidly
growing energy needs because of a growing GDP and population. It is focussing
on domestic production, including renewables and nuclear, and on energy
efficiency. The 2012 EU-India Summit boosted cooperation in the field of energy
through a Joint Declaration on Enhanced Cooperation on Energy .
.
EU-India Research
and Innovation cooperation has been strong in recent years. Regarding academic
collaboration in particular, the EU is India's leading partner in terms of
joint publications. Following the conclusion of the EU-India Science
& Technology Cooperation Agreement in 2001 India became very active
participant in the EC Framework Programmes.
Safe and legal
migration key to mobility
Mobility of
persons is an important component of EU-India dynamic partnership, particularly
as far as its people-to-people facet is concerned. The last EU-India High Level
Dialogue on Migration and Mobility was held in July 2012 identified four
priority areas for bilateral cooperation: 1) safe and legal migration; 2)
combating irregular migration; 3) migration and development and 4) sharing of
information and practices regarding international protection of those in need.
The EU and India
hold regular meetings of the Joint ICT Working Group and ICT Business Dialogue,
covering cooperation on economic and regulatory matters, for example ICT market
access issues, ICT standardisation, Internet governance and ICT research and
innovation. A Partnership Instrument project supports EU-India cooperation on
ICT standardisation, and a new "Startup Europe India Network"
initiative has been launched in 2016.
Education & development cooperation
The EU-India 2008 Joint Declaration on Education launched a Senior Officials’ policy dialogue covering skills, quality
assurance and the recognition of qualifications. The dialogue, was last held in
2013. India was a top ranked country under the Erasmus Mundus (2007-2013)
mobility scheme, and also participates in its successor programme Erasmus+
(2014-2020) as well as under the Jean Monnet and Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
supporting teachers and researchers'’ mobility.
launched a Senior Officials’ policy dialogue covering skills, quality
assurance and the recognition of qualifications. The dialogue, was last held in
2013. India was a top ranked country under the Erasmus Mundus (2007-2013)
mobility scheme, and also participates in its successor programme Erasmus+
(2014-2020) as well as under the Jean Monnet and Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
supporting teachers and researchers'’ mobility.
The European
Union's development cooperation with India has a successful track record,
spanning over several decades. A major focus of social sector funding for the
EU in India has been Education, Health, Water and Sanitation.
EU-India –
background
EU-India relations
date back to 1962 when diplomatic relations were established. The 1994
Cooperation Agreement, which remains the legal framework for EU-India relations,
boosted political dialogue as well as economic and sectorial cooperation. The
EU-India Strategic Partnership was created in 2004 to enable both sides to
better address issues of common concern in the context of ever-increasing
globalisation.
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