GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) parliamentarians have been told they must adopt a strong position at the 9th Regional meeting of the African Caribbean and Pacific –European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) against the EU’s approach to differentiation. The meeting, which ends on Saturday, is taking place in the Dominican Republic, A statement from the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Implementation Unit said that the EU has indicated that it will apply the principle of differentiation to the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) National Indicative Programmes (NIPs), with the resultant effect that the majority of NIPs in the Caribbean region will be cut. “Such action is regrettable,” the statement said, quoting Ivan Ogando Lora, the Director-General of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM).
