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Is the EU-India free trade agreement the “mother of all deals” or an over-hyped handshake? View from the world experts
Last week India and the EU struck a historic trade deal. This is largest free trade agreement (FTA) ever concluded by either side, the EU claimed, adding that it would strengthen both economic and political ties between the world’s second and fourth largest economies.
“We have created a free trade zone of 2 billion people, with both sides set to gain economically,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “We have sent a signal to the world that rules-based cooperation still delivers great outcomes.”
“High tariffs down, opportunity unleashed,” said Maroš Šefčovič succinctly. As the, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security for the EU, he was pivotal in striking the deal together with India Minister Piyush Goyal. “Now, our focus is clear: ensuring businesses reap tangible benefits from this FTA as quickly as possible.”
In an interview with NDTV, Goyal claimed that the deal will “open up huge job opportunities for India, young Indians. It’ll open up a large market in the services space. 144 subsectors and services now will have access to the European market. The mobility partnership will help people with talent, with skills, particularly those who also learn languages to get work opportunities in the European Union,.”
So is this, as Ursula von der Leyen said, “the mother of all deals”? Here, we share the views of CEOs, finance leaders and trade experts.
It isn’t about trade volumes. It’s about who’s losing influence.
“For years, Washington tried to pry open India’s heavily protected market – especially autos – using tariffs and pressure. Ironically, that pressure may have pushed Europe and India closer together after nearly twenty years of touch-and-go trade fighting.
The auto tariff cut is the key here. Slashing duties from as high as 110% to 10% breaks open a sector India long treated as strategic. With Germany as Europe’s crown jewel of autos, this gives EU carmakers real runway in India – while U.S. firms remain on the outside. Of course, it will be a tough sell to Indian auto makers. But it’s a win for the EU.
And taking a more macro look, this is another sign global trade is fragmenting into blocs. Europe is hedging against China flooding its markets with cheap goods – and against US unpredictability. Same with India.
The US is still the world’s largest deficit nation, and for now the global system still runs on the American consumer. That hasn’t changed.
But tariffs – like sanctions before them – are kind of a one-trick pony. You pull that card once, it works. Pull it over and over, and people start adjusting. They reroute trade, cut new deals, and build backups.
It doesn’t happen overnight. But every time you force the issue, the leverage shrinks a little. And eventually, dependence turns into optionality.”
By Adem Tumerkan, Content Editor, Dunham & Associates Investment Counsel
The missing ingredient: predictability
“The India–EU trade deal brings something the ecosystem has been missing: predictability. For EU companies, it diversifies supply chains and reduces dependence on a few manufacturing hubs. For Indian exporters and tech platforms, it lowers friction to access a large, regulation-driven market.
From an operator’s perspective, this isn’t about tariffs alone. Cross-border businesses scale when standards, compliance expectations, and market access are clear and stable. That’s what encourages long-term investment and real innovation.
From where I sit in the US, this deal reflects a broader shift in global trade toward infrastructure-first models. Companies that are already built for compliance, traceability, and cross-border operations will benefit immediately. Those that aren’t will struggle to keep up.”
By Kiran Kotla, Founder and CEO of Dista
EBANX perspective on the EU–India trade deal
“For many EMEA digital companies, growth is no longer centered on the US by default. We’re seeing increasing fatigue with over-reliance on a single transatlantic corridor, especially as trade challenges arise. Deals like this facilitate diversification into emerging markets. The next step is learning how to actually operate there, collect payments via local acquiring, do payouts and scale without setting up local entities in every single country, or managing multiple providers and integrations.”
By Robert-Jan Lieben, VP of Commercial, EMEA
“For India, the real impact of trade agreements will be felt in execution, not in headlines. As European digital companies expand into the country, what matters is whether they can reach India’s consumers in ways that match local behavior. Solutions like UPI Autopay show how cross-border e-commerce becomes scalable only when payment infrastructure, consumer trust, and recurring models work together.”
By Rashmi Satpute, Country Director for India, EBANX
Not only a boost for trade but a platform for talent mobility
“Particularly noteworthy is the potential impact on technology and talent flows. India’s tech expertise has historically moved transatlantically, but this partnership could increasingly channel talent toward Europe, supporting the EU’s ambition to become a leading innovation and technology hub.”
By Dr Anino Emuwa, Board Director & Chair, Founder at 100 Women @ Davos
Companies expanding between Europe and India will need cloud platforms that deliver security, compliance, and financial predictability.
“The EU–India trade agreement signals a meaningful shift in how enterprise transformation happens across regions. Large organisations in both Europe and India are facing mounting pressure to modernise infrastructure, reduce costs, and scale operations faster. The challenge has never been about access to technology but about executing these changes at the enterprise level with precision and governance.”
By Otakar Seda, Co-Founder and CSO Trustsoft
A shock to the system
“The trade agreement between the EU and India is a step in the right direction. Free trade is the best long-term policy the European Union can pursue. For Europe, India primarily represents an opening of its market for the consumption of European goods, services, and technologies, not a threat of massive imports that would destabilize the European market.
At the same time, however, Europe remains strongly protectionist where market opening would create real competitive pressure. The fact that no agreement has been concluded with the United States is not accidental. An open market would mean that American solutions would effectively wipe out those that the EU is trying to artificially protect from U.S. competition. Examples include European LLM models or ongoing discussions about building a European social network. Yes, it would be a shock, but for European entrepreneurs it would also be an impulse to build on American technologies and compete directly on the U.S. market.”
By Jiri Sauer, Partner at Deloitte
Combining Europe’s “lab-to-market” strengths with India’s “market-to-scale” capabilities
“The EU–India Startup Partnership has the potential to be a genuine win-win for both parties. Europe and India are both “at-scale” startup ecosystems, with deep technical talent, active investor communities and increasingly hands-on public policy. However, they have evolved with different strengths. The new partnership is positioned as a mechanism for cross-border investment, co-creation and deep-tech scale-ups – aimed at turning those complementary advantages into practical pipelines that founders, SMEs and investors on both sides can use.”
By Steven Drost, Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman at CodeBase
A crucial test for Europe
“From a technological perspective, the announced deal between the EU and India is primarily an attempt to rebalance positions at a time when the global economy is becoming increasingly fragmented. Europe faces challenges on two fronts: dependency on the USA in cutting-edge technologies and heavy reliance on China for manufacturing and supply chains.
“In this context, India emerges as an attractive third option. It possesses strong capabilities in IT services, software solutions, and digital infrastructure, and simultaneously seeks to strengthen its position in hardware manufacturing and semiconductors. The deal is therefore not just about free trade, it’s about giving the EU greater strategic room for manoeuvering without forcing a direct confrontation with current technological powers.”
By Václav Svátek, CEO and Founder of ČMIS
EU and India are culturally diverse with many dialects and languages.
“Broad localization and translation will be needed to ensure multiple market entry on both sides so that customers can understand what they’re buying (this will be true for both smaller markets and larger ones in each region). Companies on both sides (EU and India) can’t take a blanket approach to localization and need market-specific localization strategies to take advantage of the opportunity this deal presents.”
By Russell Haworth, CEO of Acclaro
Disruptive impact felt down under
“The EU‑India Free Trade Agreement signed last week will carry consequences for Australian businesses, with the potential to disrupt Australia’s $109.7 billion trade relationship with the EU and that with our fifth‑largest trading partner, India.
While the EU-India FTA won’t be ratified until later in the year, Australian firms shouldn’t panic and jump to knee jerk price reductions to protect market share in their dealings with counterparts in the EU and India. They should consider what value-add their products and services offer and which pricing strategies would allow them to respond to the new situation in those markets without eroding profit margins.
Australian companies need a clear view of the value they create and their clients’ willingness to pay for their products and services. Understanding customer price sensitivity by region is essential as it allows firms to shape their market defence strategies with far greater precision. The process won’t be straightforward, but the insights gained will be invaluable in an increasingly protectionist global environment.”
By Chris Petzoldt, Founder and Partner at Pretian Squared
Winners will be the ones who truly understand how India works, independent of regulation
“While Europe just got easier access to India’s tech market, there’s a catch: The FTA is still very unspecific in many aspects. As always, the devil will be in the detail once the agreement is filled with life. It’s crucial to know that the Indian market works entirely different to what Europeans are used to.”
By Dr. Florian Ramel, Co-Founder India Catalyst
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