India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to meet EU Trade Commissioner in Brussels on Monday

With an aim to provide strategic direction and political impetus to the ongoing negotiations between India and the European Union (EU) for a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA), India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to visit Brussels, Belgium on October 27 and 28 to hold high-level discussions with EU Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic.

India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has described the proposed visit as timely coming at an important stage in the India-EU FTA negotiations, as both sides are intensifying efforts to conclude a comprehensive, balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement at the earliest.

The visit aims to build on the momentum generated from the 14th round of talks held in Brussels from October 6 to 10, which is expected to discuss key areas of the proposed FTA, including market access, non-tariff measures and regulatory cooperation.

The two leaders are expected to review the progress achieved so far and identify areas that require further convergence.

The visit comes in the backdrop of the India-EU partnership gaining new strategic depth following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this year. The two leaders underlined the importance of a future-ready trade relationship to advance prosperity, stability and innovation on both sides.

While India wants to export more labour-intensive goods to the EU with increased market access, the EU aims to export more automobiles and wine to India. Earlier, government sources had indicated that the 27-member bloc’s recent approval for India’s fishery exports would compensate for the loss of export routes to the sector due to US tariffs, adding that talks were progressing well and “are on track to be concluded by the end of the year.”

Last month, Goyal had said that more than 65% of the chapters in the FTA talks were finalized during the 13th round of talks in New Delhi.

In June 2025, government sources told CNBC-TV18 that additional sessions were being held in the India-EU FTA negotiations, with the frequency of meetings increased from quarterly to monthly.

Earlier, CNBC-TV18 had reported that India and the EU are keeping options open for an early harvest agreement, similar to the one India signed with Australia. The Early Harvest Deal is expected to cover issues such as tariff and non-tariff barriers, intellectual property rights, government procurement, technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. India and the EU are adopting a two-phase approach to finalize a bilateral investment protection agreement and recognition of geographical indications (GI) as well as an FTA with the 27-member bloc.