BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – How beneficial or not to the Caribbean is the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the 27-nation European Union (EU) as a bloc and the 15 small Caribbean members of CARIFORUM individually?
Five years after the EPA became operational, this issue is still being debated. But, it is a sterile debate. The EPA – with all its flaws, and there are many – is a done deal, binding on all the governments. It does have a provision in Article 5 of the Joint Declaration that mandates its “comprehensive review not later than 5 years after the date of signature”, but not one government has sought to invoke such a review due by October 2013. Under the terms of the EPA, by now, there could also have been reviews of at least five aspects of the Agreement had they been invoked.
In any event, a “review” should be based on facts and evidence that are compiled to justify it, but where in the Caribbean has any government or regional institution gathered the necessary information? And even if the information is gathered, where is the plan – worked out by Caribbean governments and the private sector – that addresses what they want to change?
