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Rigorous research from our team of analysts around Europe and India.
The EU–India Watch
India–EU FTA: When Trade Becomes Strategy
Beyond market access: the FTA as a blueprint for standards, technology, and economic security
The EU–India Watch
The EU–India Watch
What Investors and Fund Managers Were Saying About China in Davos Corridors — Why EU and India Should Watch
On-ground investor signals from Davos suggest China is back in serious allocation discussions
The EU–India Watch
Geopolitics in the Fine Print: What India’s Budget 2026 Reveals About Its Strategic Priorities
Where India Is Leaning In — and Where It’s Stepping Back: What the 2026 Budget Numbers Reveal About New Strategic Priorities
The EU–India Watch
Trump Backs UK’s Chagos Islands Deal
Why the Chagos decision matters for sovereignty, basing rights, and Indo-Pacific geopolitics
The EU–India Watch
The EU–India Watch
The EU–India Watch
The Relationship Behind the Deal
A behind-the-scenes look at how strategic relationships shape high-stakes agreements beyond the headline terms.
The EU–India Watch
From WTO Universalism to Layered
Why trade is shifting from one-size-fits-all rules toward clubs, corridors, and layered economic governance.
The EU–India Watch
The New Blueprint of Power: How Critical…
Critical inputs are becoming strategic leverage—redrawing alliances, industrial policy, and the geopolitics of supply.
The EU–India Watch
At German Embassy’s AI Roundtable
Key takeaways from a Berlin policy conversation on AI governance, adoption, and shared EU–India priorities.
Knowledge Hub
Policy Research & Insights
Original research, policy memos, and strategic briefs on the EU–India relationship, covering trade, climate, digital governance, security, and industry.
EU Inc. as a Strategic Bridge for India–EU Startup Cooperation
Supporting market entry, investment, and innovation partnerships through a more integrated European corporate framework.
Abstract
The European Commission’s EU Inc. proposal is more than a technical company-law reform. This memo argues that it should be treated as a strategic instrument for India–EU startup cooperation. By reducing legal fragmentation, lowering entry costs, and creating a more legible European scaling environment, EU Inc. can strengthen pathways for Indian founders, investors, and joint ventures seeking a credible base in the European market.
Key points
- → EU Inc. enables 48-hour fast-track incorporation at a maximum cost of €100, directly reducing entry barriers for Indian founders seeking a European base.
- → The framework should be promoted not only to founders, but also to Indian venture funds and corporate investors for whom legal fragmentation across Member States remains a major deterrent.
- → A dedicated India-facing startup entry track could be built around EU Inc. through existing innovation and market-entry infrastructure.
- → EU Inc. could be deployed across innovation corridors spanning AI, semiconductors, climate technology, health innovation, and digital public goods.
- → Substance-based safeguards requiring a genuine registered office and central administration in the EU should be framed as a credibility, enhancing feature rather than a barrier.
Repositioning IMEC as a Trilateral Digital Governance Framework Co-Designed with African Partners
Credibility as the precondition for scale, how the EU and India can turn IMEC into a rights-based, democratic alternative to Chinese and US digital infrastructure models.
Abstract
IMEC’s digital dimension is currently framed as a technical trade-facilitation layer. This memo argues it should be treated as a strategic instrument for building a rights-based, trilateral digital governance framework with African partners as co-designers, not recipients. The EU and India are uniquely positioned to offer a democratic third model. The governing principle throughout is credibility before scale.
Key points
- → IMEC’s digital dimension should be repositioned from a trade-facilitation workstream into a trilateral governance proposition, the most concrete existing scaffolding for a democratic alternative to Chinese and US digital infrastructure models.
- → An IMEC Digital Governance Working Group should be established by Q4 2026 with formal African Union representation — not observer status, covering interoperability standards, algorithmic accountability, and exclusion-audit protocols.
- → EU Global Gateway digital financing directed toward IMEC-adjacent initiatives should be conditioned on alignment with African Union standards for digital identity, payments, and data governance.
- → Binding exclusion-audit requirements must apply to any digital public infrastructure deployed under the trilateral framework, with published failure rates disaggregated by age, occupation, and disability status.
- → The EU’s regulatory baseline must be protected during the Digital Omnibus trilogue, weakening the AI Act or GDPR would directly undermine the external credibility of the EU–India offer to African partners.
The EU–India Watch’s Policy – Research & Insights offers deep, evidence-based analysis on the decisions shaping Europe–India relations, and what they mean for trade, technology, climate policy, and economic security. We track the signals behind summits and headlines, translate complex policy into clear arguments, and connect the dots across Brussels, New Delhi, and the wider strategic landscape. Expect short, sharp briefings, deal explainers, and narrative-driven essays grounded in primary documents and credible reporting.
