RI needs to heed chaning EU policies
RI needs to heed chaning EU policies
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to be more responsive to changes in the European Union as the regional integration process intensifies, ambassador Adrianus Mooy said.
Mooy, who just completed his term as Indonesia's ambassador to the European Union, said yesterday that Indonesia must pay closer attention to the issues of human rights and East Timor in its relations with Europe.
"The power of the European Parliament, following the Maastricht Treaty, has been expanded. Many policies of the union must have the approval of the European Parliament," he told reporters.
Portugal is also increasingly using the forum to influence other members on their policies for Indonesia, he said.
Mooy was speaking to reporters after reporting to President Soeharto on ending his ambassadorial assignment.
An economist by training, who was governor of Bank Indonesia before his appointment to Brussels in 1993, Mooy will next month begin a new job as executive secretary of the United Nations' Economic and Social Committee for Asia Pacific.
Indonesia once complained to the chief of the European Parliament about the way it has been issuing resolutions against Indonesia without giving Jakarta a chance to first respond to the charges, Mooy said. "That's why it would really help if we could intensify our visits to the European Parliament in order to explain our position to them."
On the economic front, the ambassador said Indonesia should anticipate the changes that come with the integration process.
Citing an example, he said Belgium is now imposing a quota on Indonesia textiles and is also imposing higher tariffs.
Indonesia may be entitled for some compensation because of these changes, he said, adding that he has compared notes with the U.S. ambassador in the European Union on this issue because the United States is filing for compensation also.
Indonesian companies should also be more responsive to questionnaires sent by the European Union in connection with anti-dumping charges, Mooy said, noting that he has received complaints in Brussels about questionnaires being returned incomplete or beyond the deadline.
Indonesia also needs to intensify its campaign to attract investors from Europe and to vie, in particular, for the relocation of industries from the continent, he said.
He noted that many of the Indonesian-made footwear goods that found their way to European companies are produced by companies that have relocated their plants from Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.
"It would be nice if the investment had originated from Europe and the goods produced and exported to European markets," he said. (emb)