Credit : BRICS NEWS
NEW DELHI, October 24, 2026 — India and the European Union are expected to sign a major free trade agreement by the end of this year, BRICS News reported on X on Saturday, as officials on both sides push to seal what has been described as one of the largest trade deals in the world.
The post, published at about 7.35am Malaysia time and marked “JUST IN”, read: “India and European Union expected to sign major free-trade agreement by end of this year.” It did not give a date for the signing or name a source.
https://x.com/BRICSinfo/status/2113776430664544650
The timeline matches recent public statements by Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Speaking at the Berlin Global Dialogue in Germany on Thursday, October 22, Goyal said the agreement, announced on January 27, “will be signed before the end of the calendar year 2026” and would probably be operationalised in the first quarter of 2027, according to Business Standard.
On Friday, Goyal told reporters in Berlin that it would be “the fastest approved FTA”, adding: “We are hoping to sign before the end of calendar year 26. Before we turn the page to year 27, we hope to sign this agreement, which will mean we can bring it into effect sometime by the first quarter, March or April of 2027.” Reuters reported that he expected the pact to become operational within four to five months of signing. Goyal is on a six-day visit to Germany and the Netherlands aimed at deepening economic, industrial and technological ties.
Indian newspaper The Hindu, citing two diplomatic sources, has reported that the signing is scheduled for December 16, 2026, in Brussels, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as part of a series of trips he is expected to make in December. One source told the paper that the European Commission had finalised the text of the deal and sent it to the European Council, and that passage through the European Parliament would add about one to two months to the process.
According to the European Parliament’s legislative tracker, the conclusion of negotiations was announced on January 27, 2026, at the India-EU summit in New Delhi. The agreement, celebrated as “the mother of all deals”, would create the world’s biggest free trade zone, covering a quarter of the world’s population and about 25 per cent of global gross domestic product. Tariffs on more than 90 per cent of EU goods exported to India are to be eliminated or reduced.
The European Commission put forward its proposals for the signature and conclusion of the agreement on September 11, 2026, opting for a fast-track procedure that completes the legal process based on the English version of the text rather than waiting for translations into all 24 official EU languages. Some member states have reportedly expressed reservations about that approach.
After signature, the agreement still requires a decision by the Council of the EU and the consent of the European Parliament, and must also be ratified by India before it can enter into force. EU leaders António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen met Modi on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian, France, on June 17, 2026, where they expressed their wish to sign the deal by the end of the year and to speed up work on a separate investment agreement.
If the timeline holds, the pact would give businesses in both markets wider access to goods and services, a change both sides have presented as a major boost to trade and investment between India and the 27-member bloc.
Source: BRICS News on X, Business Standard, Reuters, The Hindu and the European Parliament.
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