Lucknow, February 7: From heated discussion on the sale of French vessel Clemenceau to steel king Laxmi Niwas Mittal’s spurned advances for European Accelar, queries on GM foods and BT cotton, all made their way into the two-day information seminar on the European Union which concluded on Tuesday in the city.

With the European Union emerging as India’s strongest trade partner, and as the single largest donor ageny to India, it has become all the more imperative for the EU to establish its presence as a force to reckon with in the region. the seminar was the first such attemtp by European Union representatives to touch base with the media in the state, part of a country-wide effort to raise awareness about the strengths, activities and investment and programmes of the Union in the country.

The high-level EU delegation, led by Dr Alexander Spachis, Minister Counsellor, Political Affairs and Coordination, included Stefano Gatto, Head, Trade & Economic Affairs, Dirk Swillens, Deputy Head, Development Cooperation, and French intern Anne Coulon. Also part of the panelists were Malcolm Subhan, Head of the India News in Europe Programme, Maria Laura Franciosi, European Affairs journalist, Dr Gulshan Sachdeva, Associate Professor, Centre for European Studies, JNU.

Media representatives from key publications in the city took part in the seminar which gave the journalists present a good idea of EU Institutions, external relations, trade policy, EU-Indiabilateral trade and investment relationship. On Tuesday the agenda was slightly different. From deliberating on EU-India relations to seeing the union as a role model for South East Asia, the speakers discussed threadbare, the issues at hand. While JAipuria Institute of Mass Communication head Ratan MAni Lal delivered a presentation on trends in Indian media, Maria Franciosi threw light on trends and prospects in the European media. The deliberations concluded n a discussion of the possibility of the media serving as a bridge to strengthen EU-India ties.