Trade Negotiations Insights • Volume 7 • Number 9 • November 2008

The dawn of a new era: Caribbean signs EPA with EU

by Christopher Sinckler (1)

Discuss this articleShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say

After close to four years of intense negotiations, heated arguments, studies on top of studies, impact assessments, text and redrafted text and countless hours of study and meetings – a decision was called upon to be made. We knew it was going to be tough; we knew that serious sacrifices and compromises would have to be made. Likewise we knew that the EPA would usher in a completely new era of economic and trade relations with Europe in which the Caribbean region would finally have to face the realities of a changed, changing and ultimately more unfriendly global economy. Our signature of the EPA agreement on October 15, represents a fundamental signal to the rest of the world that Caribbean countries are maturely and decidedly breaking with a long loved past that in fact has now passed.

Controversial decision

Of course there are those among us who prefer to look back at a life which we enjoyed and longed to continue. We can have no quarrels with that. But surely they understand that we must move on. Clearly there are those who, like Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, will always say we have not got enough and to keep on negotiating until you get all you want. But surely they too understand that this is impractical and the reality of the agenda set for us does not allow us that luxury. No negotiated agreement is perfect, none can produce perfect results. What can be done, however, is to set realistic objectives and to target energy towards achieving the essence, spirit and letter of our goals. This is something we have done collectively as a region and it should be lauded not degraded.

Embrace the future

With signature of the EPA we embrace an uncertain future. As such, our attention should focus not on what could have been but on what has to be done to move forward. This is a highly complex and comprehensive agreement and the effort needed to implement it will at times be more onerous than that spent negotiating it. The task now is to set in motion a CARIFORUM-wide process at both regional and national levels to create effective mechanisms and structures to allow each and every country in this region to take advantage of the opportunities which this EPA presents. In Barbados, the Cabinet has agreed to the establishment of an EPA Coordination and Implementation Unit charged with the responsibility of studying the entire agreement and devising strategies and programmes to enhance the capacity of our ministries and private sectors to implement, engage and exploit this agreement. Several of our regional colleagues are doing likewise.

Roadmap drawn up

Equally, at the regional level, the CARIFORUM Secretariat has already devised a comprehensive, though only preliminary, roadmap for implementation of the EPA for regional governments. At the earliest opportunity CARIFORUM Ministers of Trade will sit down to refine and agree on that roadmap and the mechanisms needed to successfully implement it. Time is short and the stakes way too high for procrastination or prevarication.

The EU must be on board

As the first region to have negotiated and signed a comprehensive EPA, the CARIFORUM region has demonstrated a level of seriousness of purpose that many thought was beyond us. We understand fully the positive and the negative repercussions likely to arise from the implementation of this agreement. But we equally realise that the level of commitment Europe has made in an effort to assist the region in implementing this agreement must now come to fruition. In this regard, our EU partners must be reminded of their commitment to provide development support to buttress regional integration, facilitate the implementation of EPA commitments, and improve supply capacity and competitiveness - in accordance with priorities identified across the broad spectrum of negotiating subjects by CARIFORUM. The EPA text underlines the obligation of both CARIFORUM and the European Community to take all necessary measures to ensure the effective mobilisation, disbursement and utilisation of the resources which facilitate development cooperation. (2)

The development dimension

Although the development dimension of the EPA is not limited to the direct transfer of resources, it must be emphasised that the timely delivery of necessary financial support will be vital if the EPA is to achieve the objectives which both sides set out in their negotiating mandates. Equally, we expect the Commission and EU member states to become more proactive in helping the region to put in place the necessary institutions and processes to enable our exporters to become more competitive in the delivery of both goods and services. We see the EPA as a package, incorporating Development Cooperation, Trade in Goods, Trade in Services and Trade Related Issues. In our view, the effective execution of the first of these elements is a prerequisite for the success of the other three.

The importance of Aid for Trade

The EU Aid for Trade (AfT) facility represents an important source of additional funding for the implementation of a CARIFORUM EPA. The EU AfT commitment envisages increasing trade related development support to €2 billion per year by 2010 with half of these resources being earmarked for EPA implementation in ACP regions. The CARIFORUM EPA text includes a declaration that the region will benefit from an equitable share of the €1 billion, which represents the commitments of EU member states (not including the Commission) for EPA implementation. But it must be pointed out that to date, the modalities governing access to the AfT resources of EU member states have not yet been properly elaborated despite the fact that these were to have been in place since the end of last year. Moreover, questions have been raised about the actual amount of net additional AfT resources, which will be available. I am optimistic these concerns will be immediately addressed. Failure to satisfactorily do so or to meet those commitments to their fullest extent will not only compromise the implementation of this agreement but permanently damage our future relations.

A new era begins

Signature of the EPA signals the start of a new era in our relations with the EU and even with the rest of the world. At this point, let us refl ect on the poignant words of Baroness Young, who in 1996 told the University of West Indies: “It follows that whatever happens after the year 2000 will have to be negotiated against a background of a changed world in which many EU member states question every aspect of EU development policy, let alone ask why there should be a special relationship with a limited groups of nations. The message is clear: the scenario will be bleak for any ACP nation unable to adapt to this new reality. The issues are no longer about morality. This conclusion is now almost certainly the defining truth about future ACP-EU relationships.”

1 Christopher Sinckler is the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Business in Barbados. This article has been adapted from his speech on the occasion of the signature of the CARIFORUM EPA in Barbados on October 15 2008.
2 See Article 7.4.