The international trade between the EU and India under the conditions of globalization: a case study of practical regulatory problems in the EU and individual member states

Abstract

One of the consequences of the socioeconomic phenomenon of globalization is the increasing use of preferential trade agreements to regulate the international trade relations. In this context, one of the directions of the EU's Common Commercial Policy towards the third countries in the last ten years has been the promotion of international trade with the rapidly developing countries of the BRICS region. For this reason, as early as in 2006, EU and India have launched the negotiations on signing a mutual preferential (free trade) agreement, which is continuing up to this day. It is obvious that such agreement could help to diversify the structure of EU’s international trade, especially when trade relations with the more traditional trading partners (such as Russia) are becoming more problematic due to political disputes and sanctions. Therefore, the article seeks to answer the question what are the specific practical regulatory problems currently facing the international trade operators engaged in international trade business between the EU Member States and India and how they can be reflected/solved in the possible free trade agreement between them? To answer this question, the article discusses specific practical trade regulation issues in the last decade (since 2006), which are identified based on a case study of trade disputes between the EU and India on the World Trade Organization (WTO) level, EU level and national level of the EU Member States (using the Republic of Lithuania as the main example).