The upcoming EU-India free trade agreement offers a transformative opportunity to build resilience in the face of US and Chinese tech dominance. Gautam Kamath, Chloe Teevan and Alfonso Medinilla argue that to move past bureaucratic hurdles, both sides must focus on shared economic security across priority sectors.
Summary
The upcoming EU-India Free Trade Agreement offers a transformative opportunity to build resilience in the face of US and Chinese tech dominance, but real growth requires operationalising the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC). To move past bureaucratic hurdles, both sides must focus on shared economic security across priority sectors.
Targeted collaboration in strategic value chains: Prioritise high-leverage clusters (or ‘blue valleys’) like semiconductors and green hydrogen and go deep within the value chain to find complementarities – pairing European capital and Research & Development with Indian talent – in ‘low hanging fruit’ areas like clean tech, semiconductors, green ammonia, cybersecurity and critical raw materials.
- Putting in place cross-cutting enablers: Expand research cooperation through Horizon Europe, streamline visa and mobility frameworks for skilled talent, and establish joint financing mechanisms such as the proposed €500 million decarbonisation fund.
- Addressing regulatory friction: Realising this potential requires resolving regulatory friction created by EU industrial policy initiatives, including “Made in Europe” local-sourcing provisions in the Industrial Accelerator Act, stringent compliance under Chips Act 2.0, and CBAM carbon tariffs. Aligning green product standards early will prevent non-tariff trade barriers.
- Building trust through regular exchanges: Deepening defense and security cooperation requires navigating geopolitical sensitivities, particularly regarding Russia and supply chain security. Establishing a permanent bilateral TTC secretariat with active industry and stakeholder involvement will ensure consistent execution, build mutual trust, and sustain long-term strategic alignment.
About the Authors:
Gautam Kamath is is an independent policy consultant based in Brussels and an Associate in ECDPM’s digital economy and governance team, acting as Senior Advisor.
Chloe Teevan is is the associate director for Geostrategy at ECDPM. She is also a member of the management team.
Alfonso Medinilla is is the head of ECDPM’s climate action and green transition team. He focuses on the geopolitics of the global green transition and renewable energy.