India and the European Union are expected to sign their long-awaited Free Trade Agreement in Brussels on December 16, 2026. The deal will then require approval from the European Parliament before implementation.
Highlights
- The signing is expected to take place in Brussels in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- The agreement has received majority support in Europe and is not expected to require separate ratification by every EU member country.
- After signing, the agreement will go to the European Parliament, where the approval process could take another one to two months.
New Delhi: India and the European Union are expected to sign their long-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on December 16, 2026, marking a major step towards implementing the trade pact in early 2027.
According to The Hindu, two diplomatic sources have confirmed that the agreement is scheduled to be signed in Brussels in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The European Commission has reportedly finalised the text of the agreement and sent it to the European Council. The deal has received majority support in Europe, which means it is not expected to require separate ratification by each EU member country after receiving the European Council’s approval.
Following the December 16 signing, the agreement will be placed before the European Parliament. That process is expected to take around one to two months, potentially clearing the way for the FTA to come into effect in early 2027.
India and the EU restarted negotiations for the trade agreement in June 2022 after a lengthy break. The negotiations were concluded in January 2026. The two sides reportedly kept some contentious issues outside the agreement to facilitate broader consensus.
The FTA signing is also expected to form part of Modi’s wider December diplomatic schedule. He is likely to visit Canada before travelling to the U.S. for the G20 Summit in Miami and then head to Belgium.
India and Canada are also working towards concluding their trade negotiations, while trade talks with the U.S. remain ongoing. India and the U.S. have been discussing an Interim Agreement as well as a broader Bilateral Trade Agreement.
However, the U.S. negotiations have faced delays amid tariff-related disputes and differences over India’s purchases of Russian energy.
The India-EU agreement, once implemented, would mark an important development in India’s expanding network of trade partnerships and deepen economic ties with the European bloc.
