Ahead of the meeting of 15 April 2013 between Commissioner De Gucht and the Indian Commerce Minister Sharma, 15 European business organisations, representing a wide range of industry and service sectors, sent a  joint statement concerning the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This joint letter calls for an enhanced engagement towards an ambitious FTA that would include inter alia elimination of tariffs with no exceptions, technical barriers to trade including removal of all export restrictions/export duties on raw materials, market access for goods and services, investment protection, public procurement including the removal of local content requirements, a meaningful intellectual property chapter, competition, as well as sustainable development.