Indonesia should look more to European Union

Indonesia should look more to European Union

Professor Corrado Guido Maria Letta is known for his expertise in
Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) affairs and chairs a strategic think-
thank of the ASEM Summit Organizing Committee. During his visit
to Indonesia, he shared his views with The Jakarta Post's Fabiola
Desy Unidjaja, in which he said that Indonesia should not
overlook the new influence of the European Union (EU) in a U.S.-
dominated world.

Question: In your opinion why do Asians tend to overlook
European contributions to the region?

Answer: It is difficult; a lot of Asians, including a lot of
Indonesians, have the impression that Europe will force its own
agenda on Indonesia. You perceive it that way as a result of
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank policy toward
Indonesia in the past.

Your agenda is very clear, one of political stability and
economic growth, which is why you do not accept the imposition of
an agenda of democracy, human rights and governance.

How many Indonesians understand that Europe is one of the
greatest aid contributors, apart from the U.S. and Japan? In 1997
you had to go to the IMF. Indonesia managed to obtain loans
because of the trust fund from the IMF, but who gave the money to
the trust fund? It was the Europeans.

In terms of contributions Europe comes first, before the U.S
and Japan. They do a lot of talking, but Europe does a lot of
doing and we do not get enough credit for that; it is a problem
of visibility.

If we could increase the awareness of Indonesians of how good
the EU has been while on the other hand being able to increase
the awareness of Europeans about contemporary Indonesia, we could
work together. I think we could be a tremendous force.

Q: Will the EU be the new emerging force in the world?

A: I am an Italian, but I would like to be seen as a European.
The EU is today 15 countries and next year is going to be 26.
Union in Europe has been one of the greatest foundations for
peace in the past 50 years; it is more than just a trading block.
As I said earlier, there is a perception that the U.S. and Japan
are more important than Europe, but when you look at the reality
that is not the case at all.

Today the euro is worth much more than the U.S. dollar.
Because of that, at the ASEM meeting in Copenhagen last year, the
25 leaders decided to form a task force to see whether it would
be possible to establish the euro as a trading currency.

You can say that the U.S. has the political clout and Europe
does not. But Europe is getting our governments together
politically as we are going to have one foreign affairs spokesman
and a single foreign policy.

In Europe, some countries are developed while others are
developing; the gap is astonishing and you in Indonesia are not
aware of that.

Of course, there is a perception that we are disunited but we
agree to sit and talk about it and seek ways to be united.

Q: Why do you think that Asia could have better cooperation with
the EU than with the U.S.?

A: What the EU will help with is what is on your agenda, not the
EU agenda; the trick is to make the agenda applicable.

The recent rallies on fuel price hikes are nothing to do with
the hikes themselves but because you want to be independent and
do not want to be told by anybody what to do, and you are right.
The people are not reacting because of the hikes per se, but
because they are part of the agenda of the IMF and World Bank.

You were right to feel that they (the IMF and World Bank) had
made a mess. You cannot be forced to accept something that was
cooked back in the kitchens of Washington, brought over here and
eat it -- we cannot look at it that way.

We Europeans are more inclined to understand more about your
people and leaders. We look at the problems and see what we can
do. There is a lot of potential, but in the mind of most
Indonesians it is all about the U.S. and Japan.

We only say that the EU clearly sees that your agenda is not
about democracy and human rights or governance. We understand
that your agenda is political stability and economic growth with
an equitable distribution of wealth.

As that is your agenda you come to us and say "wait a minute,
do not come over and lecture us on democracy and human rights
because that is what we should be doing." That is fine because
you want to establish your own independence and pursue your own
economic development model and do not want to have a copy of the
European model thrust upon you.

On the other hand, it is also true that Indonesia, in a bid to
develop itself, needs support in institution-building and
regional dialogs.

But that is part of the learning process; you can learn from
us on institutions and we can learn from you on networking, such
that colonial domination becomes a thing of the past, as we are
partners at an equal level.

Q: Do you think that by working with the EU, we can finally
challenge the domination of the U.S.?

A: Yes, that is why ASEM was founded, as a counterbalance to APEC
(the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum). So, there is going
to be multilateralism. We would like to keep it like that.