The Dangers of the IEU CEPA and the Omnibus Law
No Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations have been as prolonged and complex as those for the Indonesia-Europe Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU CEPA) between the Government of Indonesia and the European Union Commission. Officially initiated on 18 July 2016, these negotiations have entered their eighth year in 2024. These negotiations continued virtually even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Moreover, the IEU CEPA campaign persisted despite the devastating global impact of the pandemic.
Discussions on the IEU CEPA were held in September 2021. At the time, Vincent Piket, the European Union Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, highlighted the agreement’s potential benefits. He stated that the IEU CEPA would promote qualitative changes in trade and industry through investments in technology,