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RNM INTENSIFIES PREPARATIONS FOR EU NEGOTIATIONS

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – CARIFORUM Ministers, with responsibility for trade, met in Barbados on May 3. The Ministerial followed a Caribbean Trade Experts Meeting and Senior Officials Meeting held between April 28 to 30 and May 1, respectively. The results of these three meetings will refine and deepen thinking in CARIFORUM on what is an appropriate Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) for the Region and will contribute to preparations for Africa Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Council of Ministers Meetings in Brussels scheduled for May 14 to 16. The meeting today was convened for Ministers to be updated on the draft document, entitled, ‘Caribbean Guidelines for Phase II EPAs’. The guidelines document, prepared by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), identifies the substantive elements of a Caribbean EPA with the European Union (EU). Ministers in attendance included: Hon. Billie Miller, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Barbados; Hon. Julian Hunte, Minister of External Affairs, Foreign Trade and Civil Aviation, St. Lucia; Hon. Clement Rohee, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Guyana; Hon. Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Belize; and, Hon. Diana Seukeran, Minister of State in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Trinidad & Tobago. The Dominican Republic was represented at Vice-Ministerial level by Sr. Santiago, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Other CARIFORUM Member States in attendance – represented at Ambassadorial level – were Cuba and Jamaica, respectively. Ministers agreed that a Caribbean-EU EPA must promote the long-term development objectives of the countries of the Region and be consistent with development strategies designed by the countries. It was also agreed that an economic partnership between two highly unequal parties in levels of development and size, such as the Caribbean and Europe, can be accomplished only through accommodation of the less developed party. This should entail the facilitation of the Caribbean’s efforts to develop, structurally transform itself at an appropriate pace of adjustment, and improve its international competitiveness. The Caribbean Trade Experts Meetings was attended by representatives from a number of institutions, namely: the ACP Secretariat, the CARICOM Secretariat, the Commonwealth Secretariat, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Project Management Unit (PMU), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Caribbean Ambassadorial representatives from Brussels and Geneva were also in attendance, as were trade specialists from the RNM and the CARICOM College of Negotiators for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The Caribbean Trade Experts Meeting, which preceded the Ministerial, was a pioneering activity as it was the first of its kind in the Cotonou process to deliberate on issues of strategy, coherence and sequencing of a regional EPA. What emanated may contribute to experts meetings in other regions planning to engage in similar endeavors. The recommendations which arose from the Caribbean Trade Experts Meeting were discussed by Senior Officials from Governments of the Region on May 2. The views of these Officials were incorporated into the document prepared for consideration of Ministers on May 3. EPAs represent the trade component of what is called the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which was signed in 2000. The Partnership constitutes a template for a ‘new’ relationship between the ACP and Europe for the next twenty years. The CPA replaces development and trade relations that previously existed for a quarter century through a series of Lomé Conventions. These Lomé Agreements afforded non-reciprocal trade preferences to the ACP Group. Regional EPA negotiations will reshape the Caribbean’s economic and development cooperation relations with the EU. Consequently, the Caribbean views an EPA as a new trading arrangement buttressed by development support mechanisms. The guidelines document will be given further consideration by Member States. It is expected to be refined and developed in greater detail as the negotiating process gets underway and with clarification on the impact of factors such as the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform process, EU expansion, and developments in the WTO. For More Information Contact: Nand C. Bardouille Tel: (246) 430-1678 email: nbardouille@sunbeach.net

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