The European Union called on India to reduce persistent trade barriers and adopt a more open approach to multilateral and plurilateral agreements, in a statement delivered at the 8th Trade Policy Review of India on 21 July 2026. Ambassador María Martin-Prat, speaking on behalf of the EU at the WTO in Geneva, welcomed the recently concluded EU-India Free Trade Agreement but stressed that implementation and further liberalisation are needed to unlock the full potential of bilateral trade, which reached €185 billion in goods and services in 2025.
The statement, published by the EEAS on 22 July 2026, noted that bilateral goods trade has grown by over 80% in the last decade, yet India remains only the EU's 9th largest trading partner, accounting for 2.3% of total EU trade. The EU described the FTA, announced at the EU-India Summit on 27 January 2026, as the most ambitious India has ever concluded in terms of tariff liberalisation and rules on non-tariff barriers. However, the EU highlighted that many trade barriers have been maintained or increased, citing unpredictable customs procedures, cumbersome sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, gaps in intellectual property protection, and a growing number of Quality Control Orders that impose burdensome conformity assessments deviating from international standards. The EU submitted 75 detailed questions reflecting these concerns.
The EU also encouraged India to play a more active role in WTO reform, including by supporting the incorporation of the plurilateral Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement and the Agreement on Electronic Commerce into the WTO rulebook, and by notifying subsidies in a timely manner. The statement welcomed India's deposit of the instrument of acceptance of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 20 July 2026. The EU urged India to view plurilateral agreements as opportunities to shape the WTO agenda rather than threats to multilateralism.
The Trade Policy Review serves as a transparency exercise allowing WTO members to assess each other's trade policies. The EU expressed hope that the review would help clarify perceptions and improve trade flows.