EU moves toward closer relations with Indonesia

EU moves toward closer relations with Indonesia

The European Council adopted on March 20, 2000, the European
Commission's Communication on Developing Closer Relations between
Indonesia and the European Union. The adoption of the
Communication underlines the importance the European Union (EU)
attaches to Indonesia and to its pivotal role within the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In the absence of
a bilateral agreement, EU cooperation with individual ASEAN
countries has taken place within the framework of the EU-ASEAN
Cooperation Agreement of 1980.

The European Council welcomed the Communication and stressed
it was time for the EU to forge fresh and deeper relationships
with the new Indonesian administration. These relationships will
enable the EU to support Indonesia's efforts to strengthen the
democratization process, to ensure respect for human rights, to
reform its military and judicial systems, to enhance the rule of
law and good governance, to restore the vitality of its economy
and to solve its internal conflicts through dialog.

The Communication analyzes the changes which have taken place
in Indonesia over the past two years and suggests a new approach
for the EU. The President of the European Commission, Roman
Prodi, said: "Indonesia is making a very big experiment in the
field of civil democracy and we have to do everything we can to
help it."

The Communication identifies areas where the EU should do more
to assist Indonesia's development. These include addressing the
needs of those who have suffered most from the impact of the
economic crisis, programs intended to improve good governance, to
alleviate poverty, in particular in sensitive areas such as the
Mollucas and West Timor, and the sustainable management of the
country's abundant natural resources, in particular Indonesia's
forestry sector.

In adopting the Communication, the European Council invited
Indonesia to engage in a regular political dialog with the Union.
Furthermore, the Council welcomed the Commission's intention to
develop an EC-Indonesia economic dialog through regular Senior
Officials' meetings with the Indonesian administration and to
broaden and strengthen its cooperation programs with Indonesia.

Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten said: "The
emergence of Indonesia from authoritarian rule to democracy, and
Indonesian withdraw from East Timor, gives the EU a real
opportunity to build a substantial relationship with a country
that has an enormous role to play in the region. What happens in
Indonesia matters to all of us. We have the prospect of securing
democracy in one of the largest countries of Asia, and the
biggest Muslim country in the world. The EU must support the
reformers. This Communication identifies ways to do that."