Indonesia and the EU will sign on Monday the much-awaited Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which will bring relations to a new level after the latter lifted the controversial flight ban against Indonesian airlines, a major hurdle that had undermined the bilateral agreement for more than two years.
The Foreign Ministry's Director General for American and European Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi said the PCA would deepen bilateral ties in three sectors: political-security, economic and socio-cultural.
"This shows that Indonesia-EU relations have now matured; that both parties have had mutual trust," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
"The PCA will serve as a guideline for future bilateral cooperation."
The pact was initiated during the foreign ministerial meeting between Indonesia and EU-Troika in Vienna in March 2006. The draft was finalized in May 2007, but Indonesia refused to proceed with the signing of the agreement when the European Commission (EC) decided to ban Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe following a series of deadly flight accidents in the Southeast Asian country.
"We told them that it was illogical that we would be able to embark on a new level of relations after the flight ban. We need to settle this down first and only then can we sign the agreement," Retno said.
The EC is the executive arm of the EU, the world's most powerful and prosperous regional organization.
The EC in July decided to lift the ban against four airlines, including flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Airfast Indonesia and Prime Air. The decision was fully welcomed by Indonesia, which said the ban had tarnished the image of its already ailing aviation industry, as well as damaging European-Indonesian relations.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, irked by EU's policy, vowed he would not visit Europe before the ban was lifted. He broke his oath, though, when he visited London for the G20 meeting in March.
Retno said soon after the flight ban issue was settled both Indonesia and the EU agreed to expedite the signing ceremony. However, the EC needs to translate the PCA draft into 20 languages before proceeding with the signing.
"Each EU country member will also need to ratify the agreement so the ratification process may take two years," she said.
The pact will be signed by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, whose country is currently holding the 27-member EU presidency, and the EU's Acting Director General of DG External Relations of the European Commission, Karel Kovanda.
The EU is among the biggest investors in Indonesia, with around 700 companies from EU member states bringing approximately 50 billion euros (US$68 billion) to Indonesia, according to the EC delegation. The Indonesian Coordinating Board for Foreign Investment (BKPM) reported that the EU member states had $1.03-billion realized foreign direct investment in 2008.
