The European Union arms embargo on the Republic of Indonesia

The European Union arms embargo on the Republic of Indonesia

In September and October 1999 the European Union adopted two measures related to Indonesia that are implemented using export controls.

On 16 September the Council of the European Union (the foreign ministers) adopted a Common Position that included an arms embargo and the suspension of bilateral military cooperation between EU member states and Indonesia. The Common Position also included a commitment to ban the supply of equipment that might be used for internal repression or terrorism to Indonesia.

Equipment that might be used for internal repression or terrorism is not specially designed or developed for military use and was dealt with in the framework of the supra-national European Community legislation. Therefore, the legal form for the ban was different from that adopted for transfers of arms.

On 11 October the Council of the European Union (the foreign ministers) adopted a Council Regulation banning the supply of equipment that might be used for internal repression or terrorism. The Regulation, that took into account a proposal of the Commission, defined the items that would be subject to the ban in an annex.