Book Review: Arpita Mukherjee, Rupa Chanda and Tanu M. Goyal (eds), Trade in Services and Trade Agreements: Perspectives from India and the European Union
| DOI | 10.1177/0015732515625721 |
| Published date | 01 May 2016 |
| Author | Pralok Gupta |
| Date | 01 May 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Arpita Mukherjee, Rupa Chanda and Tanu M. Goyal (eds), Trade in
Services and Trade Agreements: Perspectives from India and the European
Union. New Delhi: SAGE, 2016, `1095, 443 pp., ISBN 978-93-515-0324-8.
Services are increasingly becoming important in global trade and constitute
approximately 21 per cent of the total trade in goods and services (UNCTAD
Statistics). Services are also becoming an integral part of current trade negotia-
tions as most of the countries negotiate services market access in their bilateral
and regional trade agreements. India and the European Union (EU) are no
exception to this.
India and the EU are the two important trading regions of the world. India
accounted for around 3 per cent of the global services trade and the EU contrib-
uted around 43 per cent to such trade in 2013 (UNCTAD Statistics). The EU is
India’s largest trading partner in services having a share of around 13 per cent
in India’s total services trade. Both, India and the EU, believe in multilateral
trading system along with regional trade agreements to enhance trade among
countries. In accordance with this common philosophy, India and the EU started
negotiating a Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) in 2007 but
could not complete the agreement owing to various concerns on both sides. This
agreement covers a wide range of trade issues, including goods, services, invest-
ment, government procurement, sustainable development and labour standards,
among others.
This book explores India–EU trade relation from services perspective and ana-
lyzes prospects and challenges for trade in various services between these two
regions. The services selected for the analysis include infrastructure services
(logistics and energy), business services (IT-ITeS), professional services (account-
ancy), social services (health) and other services (retail and environment). The
contributing authors provided a snapshot of the existing regulatory framework in
these services and discussed opportunities and challenges for serving in these two
markets. The discussion is supplemented by prescribing domestic reforms to
overcome these challenges.
After the introductory chapter, the book is divided into three parts. Part I
consists of two chapters. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the services sector
in India and the EU. It explores the governance structure, institutional set-up,
macro-economic and regulatory framework for services in India and the EU.
It also provides a snapshot of various EU Directives applicable to services
industry. Chapter 3 examines trends and recent developments in trade and
Foreign Trade Review
51(2) 194–199
©2016 Indian Institute of
Foreign Trade
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0015732515625721
http://ftr.sagepub.com
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