India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal will visit Brussels from January 8 for a two-day official engagement, highlighting the growing intensity of India-European Union (EU) diplomatic and technical exchanges and signalling a decisive push to conclude the long-pending India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The visit is expected to include high-level meetings with European Commission leaders to take stock of progress and resolve outstanding issues in the negotiations.

The talks come at a pivotal moment in India-EU economic relations. After remaining stalled for over nine years, FTA negotiations were re-launched in June 2022, marking renewed political will on both sides to deepen economic integration. Since then, 14 rounds of negotiations and several ministerial-level dialogues—most recently in December 2025—have been held, reflecting sustained efforts to finalise a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade pact.

The European Union is currently India’s largest trading partner and a key investor, with bilateral trade in goods significantly bolstered in the 2024-25 fiscal. This agreement is envisioned not just as a trade deal, but as a comprehensive partnership that addresses modern economic realities.

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Brussels from January 8 to advance India-EU FTA talks, reflecting intensified engagement to conclude the long-pending agreement.
Re-launched in June 2022 after a nine-year pause, negotiations have seen 14 rounds and multiple ministerial dialogues.
Goyal will hold high-level talks with EU trade leaders to resolve key issues.

During the visit, Goyal will hold high-level dialogues with the European Union’s commissioner for trade and economic security, Maros Sefcovic. The primary objective of these interactions is to provide strategic guidance to the negotiating teams, resolve pending issues, and expedite the conclusion of a balanced and ambitious agreement, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a press release.

The leaders are expected to carry out detailed deliberations across key areas of the proposed agreement, aiming to narrow divergences and ensure clarity on outstanding matters. The ministerial engagement follows a week of intensive deliberations in Brussels, building upon the groundwork laid during high-level discussions held earlier this week between India’s commerce secretary, Rajesh Agrawal, and the director-general for trade of the European Commission, Sabine Weyand.

A central pillar of India’s negotiation strategy, guided by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is to secure an agreement that translates into tangible benefits for the common man. India is pushing for zero-duty access for its labour-intensive sectors—such as textiles, leather, apparel, gems and jewellery, and handicrafts.

Both India and the EU have expressed strong political resolve to deliver a comprehensive deal. The upcoming talks are expected to reaffirm the commitment of both sides to a rules-based trading framework and a modern economic partnership that safeguards the interests of farmers and MSMEs while integrating Indian industries into global supply chains.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)

M&S’s Golden Quarter was “solid”, the retail giant said on Thursday with the 13 weeks to 27 December seeing a record number of people shopping at the stores and online.

The period is the third quarter of the firm’s financial year and total sales were £4.993 billion. That was a big year-on-year leap due to the inclusion of the food-focused Ocado Retail operation this time. But excluding this, sales rose 3.3% to £4.15 billion.

Unfortunately, in Fashion, Home & Beauty specifically, sales of £1.73 billion were down 2.5% in total and 2.9% like-for-like. However, International sales rose 0.9% to £158 million.

The company said the Fashion, Home & Beauty performance came as online sales growth was offset by a store sales decline. This reflected reduced high street footfall, “and the long tail impact on stock data and management following the [cyberattack] earlier in the year. Stock into Sale during December was higher than last year but sell-through rates have been strong”.

It added that in total UK fashion, it “regained market share leadership in the period and now holds the number one position for customer perceptions of style, quality and value. New season product is resonating with customers and new stores such as Bristol Cabot Circus are exceeding expectations, demonstrating the benefits of the store rotation strategy”.

As for the International numbers, the company said the small uplift came as “new wholesale agreements, online growth and Food franchise offset Fashion, Home & Beauty shipment phasing and India performance”.

CEO Stuart Machin said: “Millions more trusted M&S to deliver the family Christmas. Food sales were strong and the business continues to outperform, hitting a new market share milestone in the period.

“Fashion, Home & Beauty is getting back on track as we work through the tail end of recovery. Sales overall were slightly down but online performance continued to improve as digital sales recovered. We planned a bigger Sale this year, with strong sell-through already making way for our new-season lines. 

“We enter this new calendar year full of ambition and laser focused on our plan to reshape M&S for further growth. In Fashion, our new season ranges are resonating well with customers as we double down on value, quality and style.”