EU-India Summit Marseille, Monday 29 Sep 2008

Global partners for global challenges: The EU-India Joint Action Plan (JAP)

The EU-India Joint Action Plan (JAP) has now been working for three years. It has provided an agreed measure of progress, a mechanism for coordination and a spur to stronger cooperation.

The period since its adoption has been marked by worldwide growth of interdependence. Climate change, terrorism and instability remain as much of a threat as in 2005 and new challenges have arisen. The unprecedented pressure on energy and natural resources, including foodstuffs, poses new difficulties and calls for immediate action, as well as long-term structural measures.

In light of these challenges, and on the basis of the shared values expressed in the 2005 JAP, the EU and India will build on the achievements of the past three years and ensure further progress in the coming period.

I. REVIEW

Political dialogue and cooperation have been strengthened

Better political cooperation between the EU and India has been a notable achievement. Existing channels for dialogue have been consolidated since 2005, with a regular calendar of Summits, ministerial meetings, and expert level meetings on subjects such as human rights and consular issues. In addition, new channels have been established, such as the annual security dialogue. New formats for dialogue have also been created through Indian membership of ASEM and EU observer status at SAARC. The EU and India have also pursued issues of common concern within the framework of the United Nations including peacekeeping & peace building. In so far as cooperation between Europol and the CBI is concerned, it needs yet to be activated. The European and Indian Parliaments now have special delegations for promoting bilateral parliamentary relations.

Trade, investment and economic policy dialogue have expanded

In the last five years, trade has more than doubled, and bilateral investment has increased ten-fold. The parties launched negotiations for a bilateral trade and investment agreement in 2007. In specific policy dialogues on trade and investment, more progress has to be made.

New dialogues have been created on macroeconomic policy and on financial services, which underline the importance of financial and monetary stability, and of inclusive growth, in particular in the context of price rises associated with food, basic metals and energy.

Scientific and technical co-operation has developed

An EU-India Energy Panel has been established. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Agreement, to which both India and the EU are parties, has come into force. Science and technology activities have intensified and exchanges have been elevated to ministerial level, with increased co-operation across the board, shared partnerships with co-investment in research and technology development, and the renewal of the EU-India Science and Technology Agreement.

Co-operation on information and communications technologies continues to be strengthened, as indicated by the connection of the European high speed research network GEANT2 with its Indian counterpart ERNET, allowing European and Indian researchers to develop joint projects. The area of transport will benefit from the signature of a horizontal aviation agreement.

Co-operation and exchanges on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology have provided a better understanding of the complex issues in the sector. The two sides have made progress towards validating Ayurveda products as para-medicines or food supplements. In the field of employment and social affairs, there have been substantial activities under the sector policy dialogue and associated work programme.

Clean development and climate change needs more concrete activities involving all stakeholders. The maritime agreement discussions are yet to come to fruition. In space technology, dialogue between the two sides needs to be further strengthened. In global navigation satellite systems, the EU-India agreement on Galileo has yet to be finalised.

Cultural and people-to-people links have deepened

Specific funding has been made available to increase the participation of Indian students in European graduate programmes. The Community Culture Programme has launched a special action for EU-India cultural co-operation for the period 2007-2009. Work continues on promoting civil society exchanges and people-to- people interaction in diverse fields. There is a need for more progress in the area of culture and in the shared ambition of establishing chairs of study in both partners' academic institutions. Further effort is needed to facilitate the movement of persons, based on a comprehensive approach to migration issues.

II. NEW ACTIVITIES

The EU and India identified the following new activities to complement the 2005 India-EU Joint Action Plan, with the objective of promoting international peace and security and working together towards achieving economic progress, prosperity and sustainable development:

Promoting Peace and Comprehensive Security

To strengthen their consultations in the United Nations Human Rights Council and sustain their dialogue on human rights with a view to promoting the universality of human rights.
To organise seminars and exchange best practice on civil-military peace building issues, including on Africa.
To reinforce co-operation in fighting proliferation and in export control.
To intensify contacts in the fight against terrorism including through the operationalisation of co-operation between Europol and India.
To co-operate on regional issues.
To join efforts in the international foray in using expertise in global development policy to promote the achievement of the MDGs and aid effectiveness.

Promoting sustainable development

To implement a bilateral Work Programme on Energy, Clean Development and Climate Change to promote joint activities, research and policy development.
To explore the up-scaling of financing for activities to address climate change and further explore the potential for research and technology co-operation and the options for technology transfer.
To foster co-operation on solar energy with a view to jointly developing a flagship programme in solar energy.
To make substantive and efficient progress for the early conclusion of an ambitious and balanced broad-based trade and investment agreement.
To strengthen the exchange of best practices and co-operation in customs matters, covering areas such as supply chain security and trade facilitation, customs Intellectual Property Rights enforcement, environmental protection, tackling commercial fraud, modernisation of processes, of procedures and of working methods.
To share experience, views, and non-confidential information on competition law policy and enforcement.
To use the EU-India regulatory dialogue on financial services launched in 2006 to make progress on regulatory convergence.
To establish a Working Group on engineering sector including automotive industry; a dialogue on sustainable industrial policy; and the strengthening of co-operation on the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector.
To develop business-to-business and research co-operation with the help of the future European Business & Technology Centre (EBTC).
To extend the current dialogue on agriculture to address agricultural productivity, including new technologies, input use efficiency, and improved selection of seeds and crops.
To enhance technical and regulatory co-operation in the field of civil aviation, spanning such areas as aviation safety, aviation security, environment, air traffic management, economic regulation and business issues.
To further co-operate in the field of decent work.
To increase exchanges in the fields of sustainable extension of social protection, social dialogue, equal opportunities and gender equality.
To launch a joint study on decent work covering priority areas relating to global employment, social cohesion, and sustainable development.
To conduct a dialogue on issues relevant to co-operation with third countries.

PROMOTING RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

To co-operate in civil nuclear research and development in a manner consistent with their international obligations.
To enhance co-operation in the framework of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Agreement and through the conclusion of a bilateral agreement between Euratom and India in the field of fusion energy research.
To create links and to increase exchanges between both sides' statistical services to foster co-ordination in statistical methodology and research on social and economic data.
To undertake collaborative research and capacity building in new fields of science and technology, which will be determined by the Steering Committee of the EC-India S&T agreement.
To strengthen dialogue between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Department of Space (DOS), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the European Commission.
To explore co-operation in the field of Pharmaceutical Education and Research.

PROMOTING PEOPLE-TO-PEOLE AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES

To strengthen dialogue between the two Parliaments.
To continue the promotion of civil society exchanges and interaction through the reinforcement of the mandate of the EU-India Civil Society Roundtable in order to ensure greater involvement of economic and social partners, especially trade unions, farmers, consumers and business associations.
To improve co-operation and foster greater linkages between European and Indian higher education institutions.
To promote the development of European Union Study Centres in India and Modern Indian Study Centres in the EU.
To increase exchanges of students and academics, inter alia, by offering masters and doctoral-level scholarships and a wide range of opportunities for academic co-operation through the second phase of EU's Erasmus Mundus External Co-operation Window.
To explore the possibility to train teachers in view of the setting up of a large number of national level educational institutions and central universities in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan in India.
To disseminate tools and good practices regarding transparency, transferability and mutual recognition of qualifications.
To promote modernization of higher education and vocational training in the EU and in India with an emphasis on quality, openness, transparency and partnerships between academic and business communities to enhance innovation and employment.
The EU and India take note of the work carried out by the International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) within the UN framework to promote cooperation in areas of entrepreneurship and SME development, corporate governance, trade and knowledge-based society through research and consultancy.
To engage further in intercultural dialogue building up on cultural diversity and multilingualism.
To enhance cultural co-operation, in particular within the context of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
To promote the conservation and management of monuments and sites.
To launch a dialogue in order to exchange information and expertise in the areas of education, training, culture and multilingualism.
To use the EC indicative budget of .470 million for India for the period 2007-2013 in support of the health and education programmes of the Government of India and for the implementation of the Action Plan's initiatives.

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