The 5th Political Dialogue under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia took place on 17 November 2020 by video conference.
The Dialogue was very constructive and productive, covering a wide-range of issues of common concern related to bilateral Indonesia-EU cooperation, regional and international issues, such as ASEAN-EU relations, multilateral cooperation (UNGA 75), cooperation to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and global foreign policy developments.
Given the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Indonesia and the EU underlined the importance of strengthening the international rules-based order and reiterated their commitment to multilateralism and to continuing to promote peace and stability in Asia-Pacific and Europe. Both parties agreed on the opportunities presented by the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific as a constructive effort to build trust and confidence.
The EU and Indonesia also discussed the EU-ASEAN relationship, which has grown significantly over the past few years and agreed to continue working on the further development of EU-ASEAN relations, with emphasis on the implementation of the outcomes of the ASEAN-EU Post-Ministerial Conference on September 12 and in light of the upcoming Ministerial Meeting on 1 December 2020.
The EU welcomed the recent signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
On the COVID-19 pandemic, both delegations agreed to work closely on vaccine multilateralism ensuring access of vaccine to all and continue working together based on COVAX initiative. Both delegations agreed to explore potential cooperation on research under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
Indonesia and the EU also exchanged views on the recent regional security developments, where they agreed on the need to find peaceful and inclusive solutions to conflicts while respecting principles of international law and the UN Charter.
Mr Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service, and Mr Ngurah Swajaya, Director-General for American and European Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, co-chaired the Political Dialogue.