India and the European Union are set to intensify joint efforts to reform the World Trade Organization (WTO), with both sides stating that their newly concluded free trade agreement (FTA) has created a stronger platform for coordinated multilateral action amid rising uncertainty in global commerce. Senior trade negotiators confirmed the issue will be a centrepiece of the next India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) ministerial meeting in Brussels on 15 July.

What Negotiators Said

Darpan Jain, India's Chief Negotiator for the EU-India Free Trade Agreement, speaking at a discussion hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington on 9 July, confirmed WTO reform is embedded in the TTC's working structure. 'There is a track in our engagement on the Trade and Technology Council on WTO as well,' Jain said. 'Fundamentally, I think, we both believe in strengthening WTO, but we also believe that there is a reform which is required. Especially in the current context, my feeling is both India and the EU recognise that we need to work together.'

Jain also acknowledged the formidable challenge of overhauling an organisation with 164 member nations. 'WTO is a body which has 164 members, so very difficult to hatch consensus there. But I think our efforts are in that direction,' he said.

EU's Concrete Proposals in Geneva

Christophe Kiener, the European Union's Chief Negotiator for the India-EU FTA, said Brussels is actively preparing written contributions to ongoing WTO reform discussions in Geneva. 'We are working on a couple or three written contributions that we are about to table in the context of ongoing discussions in Geneva on the reform of the World Trade Organization,' Kiener said.

He described the TTC as a dedicated bilateral channel for coordinating reform positions, adding that ministers will formally take up the issue at the 15 July Brussels meeting. Kiener also expressed broader ambition for the partnership: 'I would just hope that now that we have climbed the Everest of all bilateral agreements, we could... jointly, I don't know, go to the moon and indeed successfully clinch a multilateral trade deal that would enhance the legal certainty multilaterally in the WTO.'

The India-EU FTA as a Strategic Foundation

The push for WTO reform follows the recent conclusion of negotiations on one of the world's largest bilateral free trade agreements between India and the EU, covering goods, services, investment, digital trade, and supply-chain diversification. Both sides have characterised the deal as a strategic partnership extending beyond commerce to encompass technology, security, mobility, and clean energy cooperation.

Jain noted that the TTC has evolved into a key mechanism for advancing collaboration across technology, innovation, and broader economic engagement — well beyond the scope of the FTA itself. Ministers at the Brussels meeting are expected to pursue what he described as 'a very ambitious plan' to deepen outcomes across multiple sectors.

Why This Matters

The WTO has faced sustained pressure in recent years, with its dispute-settlement mechanism effectively paralysed and major economies pursuing bilateral deals over multilateral frameworks. India and the EU joining forces on reform proposals — backed by the credibility of a freshly concluded mega-FTA — represents a notable shift in multilateral trade diplomacy. Notably, this comes amid broader geopolitical uncertainty over global trade rules, including tariff volatility from major economies. A coordinated India-EU bloc at Geneva could influence the reform agenda in ways that neither could achieve independently.