EU-India Strategic Partnership Offers New Opportunities
By Werner Hoyer*
GlobalNewsHub | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
BERLIN (IDN) - India was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the then European Economic Community (EEC) in the early 1960s.
About three decades later, the Member States ratified the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 which transformed the EEC to the European Union and established the new tool of 'Common Foreign and Security Policy'. As a consequence the relationship between India and the EU was intensified and extended beyond trade and economic cooperation through the Cooperation Agreement of 1994.
The first India-EU summit 2000 in Lisbon set the mark stone for this evolution. It was the 5th summit in 2004 at The Hague which endorsed the upgrade of the Indian-EU-relationship to a 'Strategic Partnership'. Until today eleven summits have been celebrated, the latest in December 2010 in Brussels.
The main pillar of the Strategic Partnership still is trade and economic cooperation. We as Europeans would appreciate India to engage in other areas with the EU, beyond the economic realm. While there is quite a number of for EU-India dialogue on various levels, we think that considerably more progress in substance could be achieved.
Trying to identify possible obstacles to an intensification of EU-Indian cooperation there are two patterns for an explanation:
EU NOT AN EXPERIMENT
First possible explanation: India considers the EU still an experiment and prefers cooperation on a traditional bilateral level. Should that be the case, India is about to miss an opportunity. Why?
Under the new Lisbon structure . . ., EU coordination of Common Foreign and Security Policy Issues is steadily gaining importance. The basis for decisions of the EU's Asia Working Group are drafts prepared by the External Action Service in New Delhi and Brussels in consultation with the Member States. From the Indian perspective, therefore ('European Foreign Minister') Baroness (Catherine) Ashton and the EU Ambassador in New Delhi . . . would be privileged interlocutors. When you talk to them and convince them of your views, you have made a significant step towards getting an agreement with 27 countries altogether!
SECURITY COUNCIL
Second possible explanation: India's strategic orientation is focussed on the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council in the first place. The EU as a political entity has only a kind of privileged observer status in the UN and rather limited global influence, as experienced in Copenhagen in December 2009 in the final stage of the climate negotiations. . . . Allow me to disagree profoundly and cordially.
Firstly, as regards the Security Council, the EU does include two P 5 members, France and Great Britain. Currently, two more EU Member States – Germany and Portugal – are represented in that body.
Secondly, through its Common Security and Defence Policy, the EU has at its disposal a unique combination of instruments of 'hard security' and 'soft security'. For that reason, the EU is able to contribute frequently to operations under UN auspices. Just to name two current examples in India's neighbourhood: the EU provides security through its anti-piracy mission Atalanta, and contributes to police training in Afghanistan through its 'EUPOL' mission.
Thirdly, the reason for the EU debacle in Copenhagen was an unfortunate negotiation strategy of the EU – and admittedly differences of views on some issues, which in the end reduced the EU's weight. However, due to Europe's technological know-how as well as for its economic clout, a solution to the climate problem without an active European contribution remains hard to imagine.
AN OFFER AND AN OBLIGATION
A 'Strategic Partnership' is both an offer and an obligation for both sides. What is on the table? The menu is well-known – it is the Joint Action Plan for the India-EU Strategic Partnership of 2005.
What are the contents? While the Joint Action Plan is a comprehensive document, I would like to highlight just a few proposals which I deem important and attractive as fields of stronger cooperation.
Peacekeeping, Peacebuildung and Post-Conflict-Assistance:
Since setting up the Joint Action Plan in 2005 the EU offers a considerable package of options for collaboration in this field: Consultations before UN debates on peace-keeping and peace-building; establishing a dialogue at official level to exchange perspectives on conceptual and operational aspects; training for military and civilian components of peacekeeping missions; exchange of trainees; joint support of UN peacekeeping and – building efforts; post-conflict and confidence building projects in other parts of the world.
Vis-à vis the global engagement in UN peacekeeping and crisis prevention missions India could profit considerably from such a cooperation.
Fight against Terrorism and Organized Crime:
There is room for intensified relations in this field as well. I am nevertheless glad to note that since the first visit of Baroness Ashton and the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles De Kerchove in New Delhi (on June 22, 2010), some movement is visible. The EU-India Summit in December 2010 adopted a Joint Declaration on International Terrorism. . . . The recent events in this region highlight the potential of an intensified cooperation between India and the EU.
Migration and Consular Issues:
We conclude, inter alia, from the negotiations on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement that this subject is of high interest for India. Nevertheless, we feel that India's response to an exchange of views in the competent EU-India Joint Working Group has been rather limited. Perhaps this is due to a misunderstanding. Although the legislative and executive competence concerning visa issues lies on national level, changes of the overall policy vis-à-vis Third States such as India are subject to agreement between all 23 Schengen Member States. Therefore, an intensive dialogue with the competent bodies of the EU-Institutions would have a considerable advantage for India
Human Rights:
Consultations on human rights and democracy issues, looking for opportunities for co-sponsoring resolutions on thematic issues for example in the UN Human Rights Council or the UN General Assembly's Third Committee.
Bilateral EU-India consultations are taking place regularly. During recent years the discussions in this forum have proved to be open and fruitful for both sides.
In the Indian media, EU interest in human rights issues in India is frequently criticized as neo-colonial interference in domestic affairs. For us such a defensive attitude towards Human Rights does not match India's pride of its democracy, rule of law and free press. In the recent past, India has shown to be more sensitive to the human rights situation in other countries – also neighbours – as well. So this dialogue opens up new possible avenues of cooperation.
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Now I would like to turn to the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and India. . . . Both sides are aiming at an ambitious agreement taking into account the expected dynamic development of trade in goods and services and investments within the next 20 years. There are still quite a number of open issues.
I assume it is no secret that for example Germany is among the EU Member States which urge for broad liberalisation, especially in the automobile sector, machine building industry and chemical industry. India is strongly interested in access to the Common Market for her nationals to provide services. At present the negotiations are entering into a crucial phase, where both the EU and Indian sides need to show readiness for compromise in order to come to an agreement by the end of 2011. This FTA, once in force, will be a booster for the relations between India and the EU. . . .
Today (May 31) we celebrated the first German-Indian Governmental Consultations under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Singh and Federal Chancellor Merkel, accompanied by seven Ministers and Vice-Ministers on both sides. This event is a milestone in our bilateral Strategic Partnership, both in form and substance. It coincides with the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between our two countries.
In spite of this key event for the relations between our two countries, let me stress an important argument:
We, the German Government, do not understand our Strategic Partnership with India to compete with the EU’s Strategic Partnership with your country. Instead, the two strategic partnerships complement each other. While we cherish the state of our bilateral relations, we are looking forward to the ever deepening of the Strategic Partnership of India and the EU.
*Werner Hoyer is German Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. This is an abridged version of his speech at the Indian Council for World Affairs in New Delhi on May 31, 2011 on the occasion of the first German-Indian Governmental Consultations. (IDN-InDepthNews/25.07.2011)
2011 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters
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