SUMMARY :

FESI met with the Permanent Representations of Romania, Spain, Lithuania, Croatia and Poland on the EU-Indonesia FTA ratification process. Feedback was broadly positive, with entry into force by end-2026 or early 2027 still seen as achievable, although concerns remain around the English-only authentic language approach.

More details :

Over the past days, FESI has had a series of meetings with the Permanent Representations of Romania, Spain, Lithuania, Croatia and Poland on the ratification process of the EU-Indonesia FTA. The purpose of these meetings was to underline the benefits of the agreement for the European sporting goods industry, stress the importance of swift ratification and entry into force, and better understand how Member States see the deal and the timeline in Council.

Overall, the feedback has been broadly positive. The Member States they spoke to appear supportive of the agreement and do not see major substantive obstacles at this stage.

The main challenge remains procedural, in particular the Commission’s proposal to proceed with English as the only authentic language version. France and Italy were repeatedly mentioned as the Member States still raising concerns on this point. However, the general expectation from the Member States consulted is that a workable solution will be found and that the agreement can still move forward in time for entry into force by the end of 2026 or early 2027, provided the process remains on track.

The risk of a tariff gap following Indonesia’s expected exit from the EU GSP scheme on 1 January 2027 was also well understood. Member States seem aware of the need to avoid unnecessary delays, although the exact Council timeline will still depend on how quickly the language issue can be resolved and how the process develops over the summer.

FESI will now follow up with France and Italy to request meetings and better understand their concerns directly.

In some of the meetings, they also briefly discussed related trade files and issues, including the EU-India FTA, the possible opening of EU-Bangladesh FTA negotiations, and rules of origin for apparel. Several Member States expressed interest in better understanding industry views on these topics, particularly on apparel rules of origin.

Please find below. a more detailed summary of the main points discussed in each meeting.