New Delhi: European Union (EU) today (Jan 19, 2004) said it was "disappointed" with the India's offers on trade in services and hoped the country would improve upon its offers to reflect its "fundamental" interests in this area.

"The recently tabled India's offers are frankly a disappointment- it fails to redress the current low level of Indian GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) commitments, and in some areas, doesn't even reflect the current level of openness in the Indian market," EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said in New Delhi.

He said this sent wrong signals not only to WTO partners but also to potential foreign investors.

"I understand tactics in negotiations... But, it is dangerous in areas where you have fundamental interests and where others are trying to address those fairly," he said, asking the industry association CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) to take up the issue.

Lamy said EU was disappointed in many areas like telecom, distribution, legal services and accountancy.

India had tabled its offers in December at WTO to open up various services including health, computer related services, telecom, engineering, construction, book keeping and accounting, tourism and travel and maritime.

Lamy said India had not even "bound" those areas where market access was already there.