IEU-CEPA Negotiations Are 9 Years Old, Coordinating Minister Airlangga Affirms Indonesia Has Limits

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto emphasized that the Indonesian government does not want to linger in discussing negotiations on the RI-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) with the European Union commission.

Airlangga said the Indonesian government had limits in waiting for confirmation of the results of the IEU-CEPA negotiations.

In this negotiation, he said, Indonesia will affirm its position and give ultimatums or warnings to the European Union.

For your information, the IEU-CEPA negotiations have entered the 19th round since July 18, 2026 ago. This means that the IEU-CEPA negotiations themselves have been going on for 9 years.

"This is the 19th negotiation and later I will emphasize, if Europe continues to change its goal (the issue), there is a limit," he said when met at the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy Office, Jakarta, Wednesday, September 25.

Meanwhile, the Director General of International Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono, said the European Union's Anti-Deforestation Law (EUDR) was one of the discussions in the IEU-CEPA negotiations.

Furthermore, Djatmiko said, the discussion of EUDR was tough because the European Union had a strong commitment to sustainability issues.

Therefore, Indonesia and the European Union are currently trying to find a middle ground regarding this anti-forestation issue agreement.

"Frankly, we have not yet received a concrete commitment from the European Union to this (anti-forestation issue)," said Djatmiko.

Djatmiko said that Indonesia is currently continuing to strive so that agricultural products affected by anti-deforestation policies can still be accepted by the European Union market. Such as palm oil, cocoa, rubber, and wood.

"But again, this is still not the case. I don't know and can't predict what it will be like, because it's still in the latest talks," he said.