Dutch cabinet backs EU-Indonesia trade deal as Europe seeks critical minerals and new allies

The Netherlands is preparing to back one of the European Union’s most significant trade agreements in the Indo-Pacific in years. But the deal is about more than lower tariffs and new export opportunities. As geopolitical tensions rise and Europe searches for new sources of critical raw materials, the agreement with Indonesia is increasingly being viewed in The Hague as a strategic instrument as much as an economic one. The question now is whether concerns over palm oil, deforestation and investment protections could still complicate the final stretch toward approval.