By Sahil Pandey

New Delhi [India], June 30 (ANI): Austrian Ambassador to India Robert Zischg on Tuesday said that the comprehensive India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has officially entered into the critical phase of 'legal scrubbing,' with the formal signing ceremony expected to take place in Brussels in December this year.

The momentum behind the landmark trade deal accelerated significantly following the high-profile India-EU Summit held in January this year. The summit took place immediately after the Republic Day celebrations, where three top heads of the European Union attended as guests of honour.

Noting that the agreement had been long in the making since 2008, the Ambassador said that the January summit served as a major catalyst in bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

'I actually arrived on the 5th of January of this year, right in time, you know, before this big India-EU summit on the 27th of January, and one day after the very nice celebrations for the National, for the Republic Day where our three heads of the European Union were guests of honor and were really treated enormously generously, and which left a really a very good impression also from our side and vice versa,' Ambassador Zischg stated.

'As you said, this agreement, because it is so comprehensive, has been long in the making since 2008. And of course those, this summit has accelerated the conclusion of the negotiations because both sides had to make and made, say, very serious compromises. It is a comprehensive trade deal which means it has a huge effect on businesses, both in the European Union and in India,' he added.

The Austrian envoy further affirmed that with negotiations concluded, technical teams have pivoted to the rigorous process of text verification to avoid any regulatory ambiguities before the treaty becomes law.

'Now we are in the phase of this so-called legal scrubbing, which means that you have to go through hundreds of pages,' Zischg explained. 'This is very important work because you need to hammer out really the very last details because afterwards it needs to be implemented and it needs to be very clear for Indian companies, European companies, what the rules of the game are.'

He further reflected on a potential timeline for the formalisation of the deal, stating, 'It is foreseen at least according to the current timetable that there will be that signing ceremony in Brussels on the occasion of the European Council in mid-December and possibly also with the presence of Prime Minister Modi.'

He noted that following the year-end signing, the pact is slated to move directly into its practical phase, with full implementation forecasted for the first half of 2027.

Expressing strong institutional confidence, the Ambassador affirmed that 'everybody's optimistic' and that a sustained political will continues to drive the strategic partnership forward.

Following the official finalisation of negotiations for a historic India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in January this year, hailed as the 'Mother of All Deals', India and the EU are moving rapidly to sign the pact by the end of the year.

During a press briefing following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in the 52nd G7 summit in Evian, France, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri highlighted that India and the European Union are set to sign the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) before the end of the year.

The development was confirmed following a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met jointly with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.

'With the European Union, the Prime Minister met jointly with both with European Commission President, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council President, Mr. Antonio Costa, and they recalled the fact that discussions on an India-EU FTA, the negotiations, the announcement of the conclusion of negotiations happened earlier this year when the two leaders were visiting New Delhi, and the understanding that by the end of the year the agreement will be signed,' he said.

The momentum towards this landmark agreement was also fully on display following a high-level meeting between PM Modi and EU leadership.

This comprehensive India-EU pact spans goods, services, and digital trade. It is set to create a massive free market covering nearly two billion people and a quarter of the global economy, opening new avenues for trade, investment, and technology cooperation.

The FTA also eliminates tariffs on over 90 per cent of goods traded between the two sides. (ANI)