BRUSSELS, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) will embark on negotiations with Indonesia on an free trade deal, seeking to promote trade and investment ties with the largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), it was announced Monday.
The Council of the EU decided to give the go-ahead for negotiations at a meeting gathering the bloc's agriculture and fisheries ministers, it said in a statement, adding that the negotiations will be led by the European Commission, the EU's executive body.
The ministers encouraged the Commission to take an "ambitious" approach to cover a broad range of issues, including tariffs, non-tariff barriers to trade, trade in services and investment, trade aspects of public procurement, competition rules, intellectual property rights as well as sustainable development, the Council said.
Bilateral trade in goods between the EU and Indonesia amounted to 25.3 billion euros (28 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, with EU exports worth 10 billion euros and EU imports worth 15.4 billion euros, EU data showed. The EU is Indonesia's fourth partner while Indonesia is the fifth EU partner in ASEAN.
In April 2007, the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a free trade agreement with the ASEAN. In December 2009 however, following the suspension of region-to-region talks, it decided to pursue negotiations with individual ASEAN countries on a case-by-case basis.
The strategic objective of a region-to-region agreement was nevertheless maintained. In October 2013, the Council extended the scope of its negotiating directives to include provisions on investment protection.
The EU is currently negotiating with three ASEAN countries -- Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand -- whilst talks with two others -- Singapore and Vietnam -- have concluded. The Commission will continue its efforts to launch free trade negotiations with other ASEAN countries, the EU said.
