European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited India during the last days of February with the College of Commissioners. The high-profile delegation arrived at a critical time of heightened uncertainties triggered by leadership changes in the White House.
Key takeaways:
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The European Commission’s first full cabinet visit to India marks a strong start for EU-India relations in 2025.
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With a focus on trade, technology, and security, the EU-India partnership provides a strong foundation to address shared challenges and advance mutual interests
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Finalizing the long-awaited EU-India FTA by year-end and materializing other initiatives will shape future cooperation
With President Donald Trump’s second administration distancing itself from Europe and the EU navigating its complex relationship with China, the European Commission’s choice to make India the destination of its first full-College visit outside of Europe in the new term was highly symbolic.
President von der Leyen’s comparison of the renewed India-EU ties to a rare alignment of seven planets in our solar system (planetary parade) underscores the urgency in Brussels to carry the EU-India Strategic Partnership into a “new historical chapter”.
The partnership is equally important for Delhi, aligning with its strategic and economic priorities. India aims to diversify its defense procurement—historically reliant on Russia—not just by sourcing from new partners but through co-production, co-development, and joint research to advance its Aatmanirbhar Bharat (“Self-reliant India”) vision. Strengthening ties with the EU also helps Delhi address its dependence on and growing trade imbalance with China. Moreover, firmer alignment with the EU supports India’s broader vision of a multipolar world, allowing it to maintain strategic autonomy while benefiting from diverse alignments.
Commitments and challenges
While the visit was mostly about the two sides voicing political commitments, which are by nature non-binding and declaratory, these still carry a significant weight and signal a leapfrog in EU-India relations. Perhaps the most substantial deliverable was the shared commitment to finalize the long-stalled EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of 2025, as well as to speed up the work on other negotiating tracks—especially investment protection and geographical indications.
Given the FTA’s troubled negotiation history, both sides acknowledge that this will not be an easy task and will require significant political capital and willingness. Substantial roadblocks remain. India’s tough negotiating stance, under the leadership of the Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, is likely to shape the FTA in Delhi’s favor, particularly in sensitive sectors such as the opening of India’s dairy sector. Another key irritant for India is the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which will primarily affect Indian exporters of steel, aluminum, and cement. Delhi remains wary of environmental policies influencing trade, with concerns over data privacy, stemming from wide scope of data requirements, different data protection laws, and fears of mishandling sensitive business information. Yet, the EU has made it clear that it will not compromise on its carbon border tax, nor deforestation regulations.
However, there is now clear determination on the two sides to make a strong push to make the FTA finally happen. As noted by von der Leyen, “timing and determination count, and this partnership comes at the right moment”. The recent progress in EU trade negotiations with MERCOSUR and Malaysia, alongside India’s deals with Australia and EFTA countries, suggests that momentum may finally be there.
Strategic and security cooperation
Beyond trade, the visit also focused on deepening EU-India cooperation in defense and security, aiming to forge a partnership similar to the EU’s existing ties with Japan and South Korea. While India’s defense relations with Europe are primarily focused on bilateral engagement with key Western European states, a notable space exists to build on successful cooperation in maritime security—an area where Brussels’ and Delhi’s views on safeguarding the free and open Indo-Pacific widely overlap.
Other key areas of discussion, under the joint Trade and Technology Council, included digitalization, AI, green energy, and semiconductor supply chain resilience, along with securing access to critical minerals. This aligns with a growing global focus on securing vital resources, as also reflected in the recent US-India discussions following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Washington. On connectivity, the EU-India summit signaled shared interest in reviving the stalled India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which has been put in limbo by the ongoing war in Gaza.
The current turbulent international landscape marked by the US transactionalist approach and growing Chinese assertiveness presents many challenges for Europe. At the same time, it can serve as a catalyst for stepping up the EU-India partnership. While the imaginary of the planetary parade coinciding with the European Commission’s landmark visit to India is undisputable, the ability of the partnership to assume a substantive outcome-oriented trajectory will not be dictated by celestial powers. Instead, it will hinge on hefty political and negotiating skills, both in Brussels and Delhi, and the ability to translate grand declarations into concrete outcomes.
