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."