The EU is working “flat out” to ratify a free trade agreement with India by 2027, says trade commissioner
EU and Indian officials at the Trade and Technology Council meeting in Brussels. Photo credits: European Commission
The EU and India have kicked off formal negotiations on association to Horizon Europe, hoping to reach a deal before the end of this year, the European Commission has announced.
“By bringing India closer to Horizon Europe and connecting nearly half a million start-ups, we are building a partnership designed to turn shared ambition into global impact,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva, the European commissioner for start-ups, research and innovation.
The two parties reached an agreement on moving forward with association talks during the third meeting of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council in Brussels on July 15.. The Horizon Europe deal has been rolled into a broader set of bilateral collaborations in research and innovation, which are part of political negotiations for a future free trade agreement between Europe and India.
“We are working flat out to ensure speedy ratification of our EU-India Free Trade Agreement, targeting entry into force in 2027,” said Maroš Šefčovič, the European commissioner responsible for trade.
The EU and India also agreed to establish a joint innovation hub on electric vehicle charging technologies and testing, to launch a deep-tech start-up partnership, and work on joint projects in AI and high-performance computing, including joint research on natural hazards, climate change and bioinformatics.
In the second half of 2026, the EU and India will also exchange expertise on Hydrogen Valleys, an EU initiative to accelerate the development of renewable hydrogen.
The road to Horizon Europe association
India was invited to associate to Horizon Europe in 2025, but talks were sped up after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited New Delhi in January 2026.
At an event organised on March 19 by the French Institute of International Relations in Paris, Suman Bery, vice chair of Niti Aayog, the Indian government’s in-house policy think tank, said joining Horizon Europe was the best practical step to boost science and technology ties between Europe and India.
Indian researchers can already join Horizon Europe projects, but they are not eligible to receive EU funding, which means they have to find alternative funding sources to meet the cost of their participation.
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Once a deal is reached, the Indian government would pay into the Horizon Europe budget and Indian researchers would be eligible to receive money directly from Brussels.
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea and Japan have recently associated to Horizon Europe, but it is yet unclear how Brussels will reconcile the flurry of global research deals with its focus on technology sovereignty and sensitive dual-use technology.
Moreover, the EU’s international partners in Horizon Europe are asking for a greater involvement in agenda setting. University lobbies from four countries associated to Horizon Europe are also worried about being locked out of governance and sensitive calls.
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