By IANS,
Brussels : A trade and development workshop between the European Union (EU) and India aimed at informing the civil society on the ongoing EU-India trade negotiations will be held in New Delhi Sep 24, according to an EU official Sunday.
The workshop will be organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in cooperation with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), EESC member Madi Sharma told EuAsiaNews.
The workshop will be in the framework of the EU-India Civil Society Round Table that was set up by the first EU-India summit in Lisbon in June 2000, Sharma said. This is the first such workshop outside the Round Table.
The Round Table was not held this year due to elections in India and changes in the posts from the Indian side at the Round Table.
Other objectives of the meeting are to raise awareness on the potential impacts of trade liberalisation between India and the 27-member grouping, and debate the relations between trade and poverty alleviation.
An eight-member delegation from the EESC will be arriving in New Delhi for the workshop.
Chief negotiators on the trade talks from both sides are also expected to participate in the meetings which are open to the public.
The Brussels-based EESC is a consultative body that gives representatives of Europe’s socio-occupational interest groups and others a formal platform to express their points of views on EU issues.
Its opinions are forwarded to the larger EU institutions – the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. It thus has a key role to play in the decision-making process of the regional bloc.