Stop burdening people at the end of the term, Mr. President!
Bilaterals.org - 23 July 2024
Press release: Stop burdening people at the end of the term, Mr. President!
A total of 37 organizations and 29 people conveyed their urge to President Joko Widodo via open letter to stop negotiations between Indonesia - European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (I-EU CEPA). This demand was conveyed after Indonesia completed the 19th round of negotiations on 1-5 July 2024 behind closed doors.
"The location of the negotiations was not announced to the public, let alone the information regarding the substance of the negotiations. However, the impact of this agreement will be felt widely by the Indonesian people. The absence of transparency and public involvement reflects a crisis of democracy and violations of the constitution," said Marthin Hadiwinata, National Coordinator of FIAN Indonesia.
"Besides that, President Joko Widodo’s term in the office will end in less than three months, so he should not make any major decisions, especially signing international agreements. Decisions taken during the transition period will create a burden for the next government and have the potential to violate the human rights of the Indonesian people. Moreover, there is no openness to the public regarding the substance of the agreement and a sufficient period of time to carry out monitoring and review by the DPR RI to decide whether to ratify the I-EU CEPA agreement," added Marthin. FIAN Indonesia together with the Indonesia CSOs Coalition for Economic Justice (Koalisi MKE) suspect that there is an evil conspiracy in the middle of the secretive process because of the potential negative impact on the people so that information was deliberately closed from the public.
From the substantive aspect in relation to the issue of health and access to medicines, Indonesia AIDS Coalition project officer Budi Larasati explained "The European Union in this agreement prioritizes corporate interests in monopolizing medicines, especially for diseases such as HIV, TB and cancer, which in fact will make things difficult for patient groups as well as increase the burden on the state budget. The European Union’s proposal on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the I-EU CEPA regarding extending the patent protection period, data and market exclusivity, and import restrictions will result in the high price of patented medicines while the generic versions from other countries will be prevented from entering Indonesia as the originator version is still patented." This will prolong the issue of expensive medicines in Indonesia which is currently being addressed by the Government.
Health Program Coordinator, Indonesia for Global Justice, Agung Prakoso, added that the European Union’s proposal exceeds the standards applicable in TRIPS and is contrary to national regulations. “These EU provisions are very extensive, exceeding the standards required for IPR protection. With the current standard protection alone, TRIPS has made it very difficult for people to access medicines, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EU proposal also conflicts with existing national regulations. For this reason, it is very clear that the I-EU CEPA must be rejected because it only prioritizes the EU and its corporations," he added.
On digital issues, the European Union uses a colonialist strategy in hunting and extracting data from Global South countries in order to position its own corporations in new global cybernetic value chains. “For the sake of Big Tech, the European Union is trying to enforce monopoly prohibition on the control of public and personal data and information, nor are there restrictions and controls through supervision of companies collecting and processing data. This is resulting in Big Tech hegemony. Protection of source code enables data management algorithms to use personal data and information unlawfully," said the Director of the Sahita Institute, Olisias Gultom. He also added that “the current development of Artificial Intelligence has been impacting employment, education and daily life. The tragedy of cyber attack upon public data also shows us the capacity that the Indonesian government has today, when compared with the power of Big Tech."
Still related to large corporations, I-EU CEPA will also accommodate investor protection above people’s protection. This is realized through a mechanism known as Investment Court System (ICS) that allows investors from the European Union to sue the Indonesian government in international courts if they believe that government policies will/have harmed their investments. If a lawsuit occurs, this will become an obstacle for the government to implement environmental protection, public health or social welfare policies because this can be sued by foreign companies whose aim is to maximize profits.
Energy transition efforts have also become a tool of European Union control over Indonesia, especially through the Energy and Raw Minerals Chapter. "The EU’s interest in gaining access to critical minerals from Indonesia through the Energy and Raw Minerals Chapter in the Indonesia-EU CEPA is a battle of strategic interests with Indonesia. These provisions will only have a negative impact on Indonesia, such as encouraging mineral market access without discrimination, prohibiting monopolies and technology transfer, and liberalizing the energy sector. And this will only deepen and expand the exploitation of extractive resources, worsen environmental damage and add to the series of human rights violations experienced by affected communities around industrial areas. The same colonial rule model will be applied where these rules do not apply to the EU, which today also often takes protectionist measures to protect its own industrial interests," stated by Rachmi Hertanti, researcher at the Transnational Institute.
Corporate hegemony can also be felt in the seed monopoly that the European Union is trying to encourage. "The European Union used I-EU CEPA to force Indonesia to ratify membership of the 1991 UPOV. In fact, UPOV 1991 will hinder the implementation of the Ratification of Law no. 4 of 2006 concerning the Agreement Concerning Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), especially Article 9 which protects and respects the rights of farmers. Apart from that, it is also clear and unequivocal in Article 19 of the UNDROP Declaration (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas) there are eight fundamental rights of farmers and people working in rural areas over their agriculture. It is these rights that will be threatened," explained Afgan Fadhila from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Indonesian Farmers’ Union.
"From all the potential negative impacts of I-EU CEPA, the European Union is trying to provide an antidote in the form of Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter. This step is a deception as if they are aware and concerned about various development issues, especially employment and the environment as well as the climate crisis, even though it is only a form of greenwashing. So we should not be fooled because often implementation is carried out with double standards, for example how the EU uses the issue of deforestation for the palm oil sector but on the other hand tries to encourage the extraction of raw minerals. Efforts to mainstream gender in EU trade policy only try to attract women’s representation without looking at the intersection of the issues and their impact on women, so they will not be effective in preventing the negative impacts that will occur," said Salsabila Putri from Puanifesto.
Trade agreements are often claimed by the Government as an effort to improve the Indonesian economy so that it can improve the welfare of the people. However, the potential problems above actually show bad impacts that will worsen people’s suffering. Once again, if the Indonesia-EU CEPA was signed for the welfare of the people, why should the process be covered up?
Members of the Indonesia CSOs Coalition for Economic Justice (Koalisi MKE):
● Ekologi Maritim Indonesia
● FIAN Indonesia
● FSP FARKES REFORMASI
● Indonesia AIDS Coalition
● Indonesia for Global Justice
● Kesatuan Perjuangan Rakyat
● Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (KIARA)
● Puanifesto
● Sahita Institute
● Serikat Petani Indonesia
● Solidaritas Perempuan
Contact Person:
Salsabila, Puanifesto/Koalisi MKE (salsabilaaziziah@proton.me)
