India good destination for production, an example of ‘smart’ regulation: EU Commissioner

European Commissioner for Defence and Space discusses EU-India partnership, regulatory simplification, and security challenges in Indo-Pacific.

“In Europe, sometimes we are very good in over-regulating and the current European Commission is very strong on the agenda of simplification of regulations,” said Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space, in a conversation with The Hindu. The European Union (EU) can not only look at India as a “good destination” for production and capacity expansion, but also as “an example” of how to make regulation more smart, he added.

From an economic point of view, the 21st Century, apart from being the “Century of Space”, will also be the “Century of India”, he further said, adding the partnership between India and the EU was “limitless”.

“There are plenty of platforms where we can put very clear proposals, both short term and long term, and how we can develop this cooperation and partnership between India and the EU, which would be beneficial for both sides, and beneficial globally and internationally,” Mr. Kubilius said.

He identified the strategic pact on security and defence proposed by Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen, on the lines of the EU’s pact with Japan and South Korea; the new strategic space dialogue; and the forthcoming negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement that Ms. Von Der Leyen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to conclude by the year-end, as various possibilities. The two sides are also set to hold the India-EU Summit by the end of the year, wherein they expect to renew the current Strategic Roadmap for 2020-2025.

On the regulatory front, he said over-regulation was impacting competitiveness in Europe, and they had since proposed simplification. One of the challenges for the European defence industry in ramping up was not funding, which was always an issue but can be resolved, but “how to build a factory”.

“It takes so much of time and here again, India could be very attractive,” Mr. Kubilius said, adding they heard that some Indian businesses can build factories in 12 months, which would take four years in Europe.

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