Elizabeth Morgan | The EU’s relationship with the Caribbean on two fronts

In the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean, there were two meetings of note which took place last week. These were the EU’s meeting with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC) held in Brussels, Belgium, July 17-18.

The members of the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM) of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) are all members of CELAC. CARIFORUM includes CARICOM members and the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The other meeting, also held in Brussels, was the 116th Meeting of the OACPS Council, July 20-21.

EU/CELAC

The effort to strengthen the relationship between the EU and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean began in 1999 and continued when CELAC was launched in 2011. CELAC was formed as a regional coordinating mechanism with a membership of 33 countries including Cuba. CARICOM is a member of its Bureau. The EU states that CELAC is its official counterpart for the region-to-region summit process and strategic partnership. The summits are the main fora for dialogue and cooperation between the Union and Latin American and Caribbean countries. The last summit was held in 2015. CELAC had its own internal challenges and with COVID-19, it’s annual Summit was not held for three years after 2017 when it was held in the Dominican Republic. The sixth CELAC Summit was held in Mexico in 2021. Thus, the CELAC/EU Summit was not held for eight years.

The current CELAC/EU Summit was cochaired by the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the CELAC pro tempore president, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves. The leaders committed to renewing their longstanding relationship and addressed a range of issues including enhanced cooperation in multilateral fora, global peace and security, trade and investment, efforts to combat climate change, and justice and security for citizens. A declaration was adopted.

Collectively, CELAC is the EU’s fifth-largest trading partner with existing trade agreements with CARIFORM and Central America. Trade agreements are to be finalized with the MERCOSUR region, Chile and Mexico.

EU/CARIFORUM (OACPS)

Ministers at the OACPS Council Meeting covered a range of issues including an ICJ advisory opinion on climate change; the OACPS multidimensional vulnerability and resilience indices; the initiative for a new finance mobilisation scheme; a food system transformation mechanism; international tax governance, combating money laundering and financing of terrorism; the OACPS/EU post-Cotonou agreement; Small Island Developing States (SIDS) international resource mobilisation conference for financing nationally determined contributions; relations with the UK; and OACPS at 50 in 2025.

An OACPS/EU Joint Council Meeting was not held.

POST-COTONOU AGREEMENT

However, as the OACPS Council Meeting commenced, the EU, in a statement, announced that agreement had been reached in its Council paving the way for the signing and provisional application of the OACPS/EU post-Cotonou partnership agreement.

You may recall from my previous articles that this Agreement was initialled by the lead negotiators in 2021 and should have been signed. This was further delayed by objections from Hungary mainly.

The delay required further extension of the 2020 Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA). The latest extension expired at the end of June. This means that the new agreement has to be signed as soon as possible.

It seems that it is still to be signed in Samoa and should be known as the OACPS/EU Samoa Partnership Agreement.

We now have to see how the EU/CELAC relationship will develop and that between the OACPS and EU once the new partnership agreement is signed. This as the many uncertainties remain in the global economy, including the war in Ukraine. The EU is endeavouring to strengthen its alliance with the 79 members of the OACPS and the 33 members of CELAC on issues of common interests. Of course, there is an overlap for CARIFORUM which has its own sub-regional relationship with the EU through regional agreements as members of the OACPS.

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