New Delhi: Calling for “free and fair trade” for diversification of Europe’s supply chain, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has laid out a vision for the next five years of the incoming college of commissioners—a sign that ties with India will be a priority for the European Union (EU) going forward.
“We know that overdependencies can quickly turn into vulnerabilities. This is why stable and secure supply chains are so vital. Critical raw materials are the most obvious example. The demand for critical minerals for the clean transition has already doubled during the last mandate, and it could triple by the end of the next one. So we need free and fair trade to diversify our suppliers,” said von der Leyen Wednesday, during the introduction of the newly approved European Commission in Strasbourg.
In her speechWednesday, the president of the commission focused on the three pillars of the next five years for the EU: innovation, decarbonisation and competitiveness, and economic resilience.
India found no mention through her address, but signs from the mandate letters and hearings held by the European Parliament (EP) on the college of commissioners indicate that New Delhi will remain a priority as the EU looks to diversify its trade ties.
“New #EUCommission led by President @vonderleyen voted by the #EuropeanParliament. Starting its 5 years mandate as of 1 December. New EU – India Strategic Agenda will be a priority under von der Leyen II Commission,” said Hervé Delphin, EU’s Ambassador to India, in a post on the social media platform ‘X’.
The European Parliament approved the incoming commission with 370 votes in favour of the 26 commissioners, while 282 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted against and 36 abstained. The new commission will begin its term on 1 December, almost six months after the European elections, which were held in June of this year.
The new college of commissioners received the least support from parliamentarians, since the European Parliament was allowed to vote on the new commission in 1993. Only around 54 percent of MEPs supported the new college, which is far lower than the roughly 65 percent of support von der Leyen’s previous commission received in 2019.
The European elections saw a number of setbacks for the left-leaning parties, with Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) headed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz falling to third in the polls, behind the anti-immigrant Alternative for Deutschland (AfD). Similarly, in France, President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance political party was able to win only around 14.6 percent of the votes cast, while the far-Right Rassemblement National (RN) led by Marine Le Pen won 31.1 percent of the vote running on an anti-immigration platform. The results led toMacron dissolving the French parliament and calling for snap elections, which has led to an even more fractured National Assembly.
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The new commissioner looking after trade, Maroš Šefčovič during his confirmation hearing held on 4 November had highlighted how China is the “most challenging” trade partner for the EU and that he would focus on “opening” new markets by “bringing key FTA [Free Trade Agreements] negotiations across the finish line.”
“Turning to China, our third biggest and most challenging trading partner – we need to rebalance this relationship around transparency, predictability and reciprocity. This means being more assertive in challenging China’s structural imbalances and unfair practices, such as non-market policies driving overcapacity. We need a level playing field,” said Šefčovič.
The new trade commissioner added: “Moreover, I will contribute to developing a strategic EU-India agenda and strengthen our economic links in the Indo-Pacific region, with Latin America and the Caribbean. I will also work with African partners to facilitate trade and promote sustainable investment.”
Beijing accounted for 20.5 percent ofall importsin goods by the EU member-states in 2023, the largest country, followed by the US and the UK, according to statistics published by Eurostat.
As a part of its efforts to diversify, Brussels has increasingly looked to India, deepening its outreach including the launch of negotiations around a comprehensive FTA, and the creation of a Trade and Technology Council (TTC) with New Delhi. The India-EU TTC is the second such endeavour by the European Commission following the EU-US TTC.
However, even as the new commission has shown its intent to look beyond China, its efforts to negotiate a trade deal with India has faced a number of challenges. New Delhi has consistently maintained that the negotiations around a FTA have seen the EU bring in a number of non-trade issues, which has challenged the completion of the deal.
Last month, India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal had said progress on the India-EU FTA had been “marginal” due to the trading bloc’s “irrational standards”, such as labour laws and environmental norms.
India, however, in recent months played host to a number of European leaders including German Chancellor Scholz and Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez. The German delegation indicated that it would be willing to see more compact negotiations on the FTA between India and the EU, rather than focus on a comprehensive deal.
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