On Tuesday 7 February, the European Commission published nine EU negotiating proposals as part of the talks for a free trade agreement with Indonesia – proposals that the EU had tabled at the second round of talks in Bali on 24-27 January.
These nine initial proposals include one on competition policy, one on cooperation in health and phytosanitary, one on access to public procurement markets, one on intellectual property (including the protection of geographical indications), one on customs and on the facilitation of trade, one on state-enterprises and monopolies, one on SMEs, one on the rules of origin and one on trade appeals (anti-dumping duties). The negotiating proposals can be consulted at: https://goo.gl/PlFMoA .
The Commission also published a progress report on the second round of technical level talks that was held in Bali at the end of January (available at: https://goo.gl/xEoAgQ ) .
"The EU's aim in these trade talks is to build bridges with Indonesia, a country of over 250 million people and the largest market of Southeast Asia. Our ambition is to conclude an agreement that makes trade and investment easier and covers a broad range of issues, including rules on sustainable development", European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström stated.
On 26 January, Malmström had announced the importance of sealing a free trade agreement with this dynamic market, to which Australia and other TransPacific Partnership (TPP) countries that have now been dumped by Donald Trump's USA would like to open their door (see EUROPE 11713). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)