Elizabeth Morgan | CARIFORUM-EU: Launching financing partnerships

Last week, my article was about the Joint EU-CARIFORUM Ministerial Meeting held in Barbados, October 11-12. This meeting was jointly chaired by Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, and the chair of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) of the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States, Hon E. P. Chet Greene, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Trade of Antigua and Barbuda.

On the outcome, there have been several news items on this meeting, with the main outcome document seen on the website of the European Commission.

It seems that all the CARIFORUM members were represented. You will recall that CARIFORUM includes CARICOM member states and the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The CARICOM/CARIFORUM Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, was present. It does appear that some heads of government, including Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines, were also present.

The EU’s partnership with the Caribbean, in development support, dates back 47 years to the first ACP-EU Lomé Convention. Both the EU and CARIFORUM agree on the importance of development cooperation over the years. Minister Chet Greene, in his remarks, stated that the EU has been and remains a reliable and important development partner for the Caribbean in its effort to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth and development. It is now linked to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

The commissioner stated that the current partnerships are anchored in the Post-Cotonou Caribbean Protocol, which comes backed by funding from the EU’s global financing strategy. Recall the Post-Cotonou Agreement is still to be signed.

The Barbados meeting focused on the launch of the new EU-CARIFORUM development partnerships under the EU’s new overseas development aid funding instrument for 2021-2017 known as Global Europe – Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI). Under this instrument, a grant of €800 million has been allocated to the CARIFORUM region. Some €208 million will be for regional priority projects and programmes. An additional €36.5 million has been designated to alleviate the region’s food crisis. In addition, the Caribbean is also looking at accessing other sources of EU funding, such as the European Sustainable Fund.

The three partnerships launched under the NDICI global funding are as follows:

1. The Green Deal – this will address climate change, taking account of the vulnerabilities of the Caribbean countries as Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

2. Economic Resilience and Trade – this will contribute to building economic resilience to expand investments, production and trade, bringing together both the public and private sectors and enabling better use of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

3. Governance, Security and Human Development – aimed at building social cohesion, through addressing the many social problems of the region, and improving security.

ACCESSING THE FUNDING

So, the cooperation partnerships were launched. It is now necessary to develop the projects for approval and funding. CARIFORUM, in the past, has had some challenges with project development, approval, and implementation.

I note Minister Greene said that the region is looking forward to effectively participating in project identification, design, and implementation at the national and regional levels, coordinated by the CARIFORUM Directorate.

The main speakers for CARIFORUM, Minister Greene and Secretary General Barnett, spoke of the region’s need for the funding and the projects under the three headings launched. They are essential. CARIFORUM countries cannot afford to lose scarce grant funding. The consultations on project proposals and design, and submission of proposals for approval, need to be done quickly and effectively. These projects must be implementable and bring real benefits to the region.

It is one thing to get now-scarce grant aid from whatever source, but that aid must be channelled into projects which, years later, can be assessed as having resulted in real benefits to communities and countries in CARIFORUM.

On the matter of the EU and CARIFORUM’s partnership of equals, emphasised by the EU commissioner, I note Minister Greene’s comment: “The evolving relationship has been described as the more mature relationship. At the same time, the asymmetries are without question … CARIFORUM needs the EU’s continued support for our coordinating bodies and processes.”

Is this a mature partnership of equals? I rest on this.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.