EU–India FTA 2026 — Textiles & Apparel

0. Executive brief

0.1 Status update — September 2026

The EU and India concluded negotiations for their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on 27 January 2026. The process has now moved from negotiation to the EU approval track: on 11 September 2026, the European Commission submitted proposals to the Council for the signature and conclusion of the agreement.

The remaining formal steps are Council authorisation, signature by the EU and India, European Parliament consent, the Council decision concluding the agreement, and completion of India’s internal procedures. Only after those steps can the FTA enter into force.

The negotiated text and annexes are publicly available, including the EU and Indian tariff schedules and the product-specific rules of origin. However, the published texts remain subject to legal revision and become final upon signature.

Exporters should therefore use the published schedules for planning and preparation, not as a presently claimable tariff preference.

0.2 Why textiles and apparel are directly exposed

For Indian textile and apparel suppliers, the FTA is only one part of the market-access equation. The EU is simultaneously tightening or operationalising rules on product sustainability, textile waste, due diligence, labelling and forced labour.

The practical result is that tariff opportunity and regulatory readiness have to be managed together.

• FTA market access: the negotiated agreement gives India major tariff gains in labour-intensive sectors including textiles and apparel.
• ESPR: textiles and apparel are a priority product group in the first 2025–2030 Ecodesign for Sustainable Products working plan.
• Textile EPR: the revised Waste Framework Directive requires Member States to establish EPR schemes for textile and footwear products under common EU rules.
• Forced labour: the prohibition becomes applicable on 14 December 2027, making supply-chain preparedness increasingly relevant for exporters.