BRUSSELS, Belgium – Trade agreements with India and Indonesia would disrupt the bicycle industry supply chain for EU-based companies. Usually concluding such agreements is a long-term process but the EU attributes great importance to these types of agreements. Discussion between the EU and the countries continue.
Both India and Indonesia have a large scale and ambitious bicycle industry. On international tradeshows the two countries are always very well represented by component manufacturers and bicycle assemblers. Companies from India clearly spoke out their ambitions towards the European market in the past. Their trade with EU countries has grown consistently over the years, but it has never resulted in a significant shift. A trade agreement with the EU would change this situation for both countries.
The newly re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen defined trade as ‘the second pillar of our foreign policy’ in the political guidelines. Von der Leyen pledged to ‘deepen our free and fair-trade links with growth centres and partners around the world’. On the Indo-Pacific, described as ‘a decisive region for the future of the world’, Von der Leyen said she will propose a new EU-India strategic agenda and strengthen cooperation with ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Indonesia is a member.
“Global trade networks are key to EU’s competitiveness”
For bicycle manufacturers it is very positive that Valdis Dombrovkis, the current Vice-President for Trade, will be part of the Commission in the next mandate, although his future responsibilities have yet to be defined.

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In his last speech to the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee in March, he said that the European Union’s openness and global trade networks are key to the EU’s competitiveness. It is no secret that competitiveness will be the pillar of the EU’s next policy agenda, just as the Green Deal has been over the past five years.
Next round of negotiations with India
Negotiations for a trade agreement with India were launched in June 2007 and suspended in 2013. In 2021, the EU and India agreed to resume negotiations on a ‘balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial’ trade agreement and to launch separate negotiations on an investment protection agreement and an agreement on geographical indications.
The aim is also to reach agreement on ‘long-standing market access issues’. Since then, there have been eight rounds of negotiations. The last one took place at the end of June and, according to a Commission report, there is still a long way to go. The 9th round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on 23-27 September, according to a Commission official.
Agreement with Indonesia
Negotiations for a trade deal with Indonesia are much further advanced. They were launched in 2016 and nineteen rounds have taken place since then. According to the report after the last round, ‘fruitful discussions’ were held on several aspects, including market access for goods and state-owned enterprises.
Discussions remained inconclusive on key outstanding issues such as export and import restrictions and investment conditions. A date for the next round of negotiations has not yet been set, but technical contacts with Indonesia are continuing. The aim is to conclude an agreement with similar coverage to the EU’s trade agreements with Singapore and Vietnam, also members of ASEAN.
Trade value
EU-India trade in goods has increased by almost 90% over the last decade, making it the EU’s largest trading partner, accounting for €124 billion of trade in goods in 2023, and the 9th largest trading partner, accounting for 2.2% of the EU’s total trade in goods in 2023. Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN. Bilateral trade in goods between the EU and Indonesia amounts to €29.7 billion in 2023, with EU exports worth €11.3 billion and EU imports worth €18.3 billion. Overall, the EU is Indonesia’s fifth largest trading partner, while Indonesia is the EU’s 33rd largest trading partner and the EU’s fifth largest ASEAN trading partner in 2023.
In terms of bicycles, Indonesia and India are both important suppliers to the EU-27 market. In 2023, Indonesia exported 131,727 units with a value of €30 million to the EU-27 according to Eurostat customs data. India exported 200,506 units with a value of €12 million. Both countries are also supplying a marginal volume of e-bikes to the EU.