India-EU Free Trade Agreement will be historically signed in December, Austrian Ambassador said – the deal was reached in the era of ‘legal scrubbing’…

A very big and positive news has come to light regarding the long-awaited historic Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union. Austria’s Ambassador to India Robert Zischg on Tuesday confirmed that the mega trade deal has now officially entered the final and extremely important round of “legal scrutiny”. It is highly expected to be formally signed during the European Council meeting to be held in Brussels in mid-December this year, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also attend.

January summit and G7 meeting increased the pace

Ambassador Zishag said that this agreement was in the process since 2008, but the high-profile India-EU summit held in New Delhi in January this year acted as a major catalyst for it. After this, during the 52nd G7 Summit held in Evian, France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held a high-level meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also confirmed this in the press briefing, saying that both sides are fully committed to signing it before the end of the year.

What is ‘legal scrubbing’ and what will be its effect?

The Austrian envoy explained that as part of the ongoing ‘legal scrubbing’, technical teams are closely verifying hundreds of pages of legal text. This process is necessary so that any regulatory complications can be avoided in future and the rules of business remain completely clear for Indian and European companies.

The agreement would create a massive free market covering nearly a quarter of the world’s economy and a population of nearly two billion. As soon as this agreement comes into force, new avenues of goods, services and digital trade will open. The biggest thing is that under this, customs duty will be completely abolished on more than 90 percent of the goods traded between the two sides. According to officials, after being signed in December 2026, the deal will be fully implemented on the ground in the first half of 2027.