India unhappy with EU’s ‘unilateral’ green economy regulations

New Delhi: Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday expressed "unhappiness" over the European Union's (EU's) "unilateral" green economy regulations, stating they are unfair and violate the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities".Under the proposed EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), operators or traders placing specified commodities on the EU market or exporting them must prove their products do not come from recently deforested land or contribute to forest degradation.

Addressing the media here, Mr Goyal said that he raised the issue with his French counterpart during talks held a day earlier. "On Wednesday, we held discussions with Sophie Primas, Minister Delegate of France for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad on trade, investment and other issues of mutual interest," the commerce and industry minister said.

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) are tariffs that will apply on energy-intensive goods imported into the European Union (EU). India has concerns that the CBAM could result in higher tariffs on imports of carbon-intensive goods like cement, aluminium, iron, and steel from India, acting as a unilateral trade barrier.

Mr Goyal, however, called for greater sensitisation towards the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR) and better understanding for India's development path among the EU countries while implementing its sustainability and social measures. In the meeting, the minister highlighted the issues faced by the Indian exporters arising due to EU's green economy measures such as CBAM and EUDR to the French counterpart.

The minister further highlighted how in the Paris agreement at COP21 was agreed that the developing or less developed countries will have a transition period and CBDR will be the guiding principle in the transition to a clean energy world or a net-zero world. He also highlighted the lack of financial and technological support from the developed countries who are polluters in the first place, not India.

"We are the least polluting nation on a per capita basis, probably amongst the least polluting in the world, and therefore I did raise it very strongly, but this is an issue that will be settled with the European Union and I hope that our engagement with individual countries in Europe and India's strong articulation of our views will resonate through them at the European Union," Mr Goyal said.