India - European Union

• India is now FTA in many Nations (ASEAN, Maldives, Sri Lanka etc…).
• UK (UK is Combination of England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland) come out from EU.

PTA there is a positive list of products on which duty is to be reduced; in an FTA, there is a negative list on which duty is not reduced or eliminated.

Trade & Investment

• The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 12.9% of India's overall trade. Further the trade in services have almost tripled in last decade.
• The EU is also the largest destination for Indian exports and a key source of investment and technologies.
• Major EU exports to India include engineering goods, gems and jewellery and chemical and allied products. The primary EU imports include textiles and clothing, chemical and allied products and engineering goods.
• Overall, the EU is the second largest investor in India, with €70 billion of cumulative FDI from April 2000 to March 2017, accounting for almost one-quarter of all investments flows into India.
• Comprehensive sectoral cooperation: which includes both energy and climate change; research and innovation; pharmaceuticals; biotechnologies; agriculture, Digital economy and Society; competition policy; macroeconomic issues, sustainable urban development; migration and mobility; and higher education.
• EU and India remain close partners in the G20 and have developed a regular macroeconomic dialogue to exchange experience on economic policies and structural reforms.

Energy Cooperation

• EU-India energy cooperation has considerably strengthened over the past years and they now have EU - India Clean Energy and Climate Partnership.
• Further EU and India also underline their highest political commitment to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC despite US withdrawing from the same.

Research and Development:

• India, participates in international ITER fusion project which aims to build and operate an experimental facility to demonstrate the scientific viability of fusion as a future sustainable energy source. (India nuclear reactor produce energy by fission (dividing the atom), the drawback is the waste is also radioactive. So try to produce energy by fusion of atom) – India Institute of Plasma collaborate.
• India also participates in research and innovation funding programme 'Horizon 2020' wherein individual scientists can receive grants from the European Research Council (ERC) or the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) (Innovation & entrepreneurship)
• Environment and Water: The EU and India also cooperate closely on the Indian Clean Ganga initiative and deal with other water-related challenges in coordinated manner.

City to City Cooperation:

• There is city-to-city cooperation between European and Indian cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Chandigarh in a first phase and twelve more cities involved in the current phase.
• Now it is being formalized in an India-EU Partnership for Smart and Sustainable urbanization, which will support the Indian ‘Smart cities’ and 'AMRUT' initiatives to boost joint research and innovation.

ICT Cooperation:

• The EU and India aim to link the ‘Digital Single Market’ with the ‘Digital India’.
• A new "Start-up Europe India Network" initiative was launched in 2016.
• Further, an EU-India Cyber Security Dialogue has been set up that focusses on exchange of best practice on addressing cybercrime and strengthening cyber security and resilience. (Industry, Academic & Government level).
• Migration and mobility: The EU-India Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility (CAMM) is a fundamental cooperation agreement between India and EU.
• Development cooperation: Over €150 million worth of projects are currently ongoing in India
• The European Union has unveiled a ‘strategy paper’ outlining the broad roadmap for accelerating cooperation with India in a range of key sectors.
• India and EU since 2007 are unable to strike a free trade agreement called Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) due to incoherent interest of both.
• EU’s demands: significant duty cuts in automobiles, tax reduction on wines, spirits etc., a strong intellectual property regime, relaxation in India’s data localisation norms (Google is foreign company having India data, India ask to keep server within India or Mirror server in India), protection to all its items with Geographical Indication.
• India’s demands: ‘Data secure’ status (important for India's IT sector); Ease norms on temporary movement of skilled workers, relaxation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) (Ex: Set colour of fruits) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) norms etc.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live and outside of the European Union (EU).

• The European Union (EU) now is looking at reworking the proposed free trade pact with India called the Broad Based BTIA in a post-Brexit scenario.
• Agreement between India-EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community) on research and development cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy was signed.
• Adopted declarations on Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy (Reduce, Recycle & Reuse), decided to launch a dialogue on maritime security, renewed Agreement on Scientific cooperation.

Defence and security cooperation

• EU and India have instituted several mechanisms for greater cooperation on pressing security challenges like counter-terrorism, maritime security, and nuclear non-proliferation.
• Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region in New Delhi (IFC-IOR) has recently been linked-up with the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA) established by the EU Naval Force (NAVFOR).

BREXIT

Reasons for Brexit

• The Leave Campaign argues that Britain is losing out a big deal by staying in the EU.
• It has to pay millions of pounds each week as a contribution to the European budget.
• The extremely bureaucratic nature of the European parliament is hurting British exporters.
• Migration from the European Union into Britain (mainly PIGS economies) is creating an imbalance in the welfare schemes of the UK government.
• Rise of Inward looking nationalism

Arguments in Favour

• Trade benefits- UK feels that it can secure better trade deals with important countries like US, China, India.
• Arresting reckless Spending-Britain can stop sending £350 million, to Brussels every week. This money could be spent on scientific research and new Industries.
• It can impose new Immigration laws favourable to UK
• Reasserting National Sovereignty

Against Brexit

• Brexit would damage Britain’s export competitiveness.
• EU Budget: The benefits outweigh the costs. According to the Confederation of British Industries UK’s annual contribution to the EU is equivalent to £340 for each household but trade, investment, jobs etc. leads to £3,000 per year benefit to each household because of EU membership.
• Immigration: Leaving EU will not stop immigration to the UK.
• Migration crisis especially refugee crises is a global issue requiring global efforts it’s not a country specific problem.
• Given the UK’s foreign policy clout and defense capabilities, Brexit could diminish the EU’s role as an international actor.
• Immediate impact: Studies published in 2018 estimated that the economic costs of the Brexit vote were 2% of GDP or 2.5% of GDP. Following the Brexit referendum, many companies shifted assets, offices, or businesses operations out of Britain and to continental Europe.
• A referendum held in 2016, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union, decided in favour of a historic move of the UK leaving the European Union, popularly called as BREXIT.
• The UK started the exit process by invoking Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty. But the withdrawal agreement reached between the EU and UK has been rejected three times by UK MPs.
• Having granted an extension of the Article 50 process until 12 April 2019, EU leaders have now backed a six-month extension until 31 October 2019. However, the UK will leave before this date if the withdrawal agreement is ratified by the UK and the EU before then.

Reasons for the EU Interest on India

• To balance the Chinese Influence.
• To renegotiate a favourable deal in the Brexit era.
• Dwindling world order (Post- Globalisation era).

Impact on India

• India sees the British exit as an opportunity to expand its trade and economic relations with the UK.
• Brexit would bring about a situation where in the UK and EU compete for trading with India and enter into long term relationships with increased growth of trade, which India can utilize to negotiate in its favour.
• Impact on Immigration: Britain’s exit from the European Union might benefit students and professionals from India as after Brexit, the same set of rules would apply to students from the EU and India, and so would the opportunities.
• Roughly 800 Indian companies operate in the UK. The UK serves as an entry point for many Indian companies to the European market.
• A disorderly British exit would shut the direct access of these companies to the EU market.
• That may force some of the companies to relocate or shut down their businesses and increase cost overlay.

Individual Defence collaboration in France, Britain & Sweden.