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.