As part of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement’s (EPA) promise to aid development in the Caribbean, the European Commission (EC) has announced it will inject EUR165mn to go towards the European Development Fund’s regional programme for the Caribbean.
The CARIFORUM-EU EPA was formally signed on the 15th October 2008 with Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Surinam, and Trinidad and Tobago and the EU all signing.
The agreement has been proposed to pro-actively tackle poverty within the Caribbean islands and will help them to strengthen their economies by improving trade between the listed countries and the EU. For more than thirty years trade between Europe and the Caribbean has been based largely on 'preferences' – special tariff rates for selected goods. Unfortunately, these arrangements have not helped Caribbean economies diversify or strengthened their industries. The EUR165mn allocated this week will be used specifically in strengthening e-commerce, cultural industries and international trade.
European Commission Vice-president Siim Kallas said: "This marks a new era in EU-Caribbean economic relations. The EPA puts the Caribbean firmly on the map for trade and investment. I pay tribute to the Caribbean leaders and negotiators for pursuing their vision of a prosperous future for their region."
EU Commissioner for Development Louis Michel added: "This is a groundbreaking step forward for regional integration and development for the Caribbean. This deal creates new opportunities for the region in terms of stronger growth and exports, and more jobs."
The EPA will mean much closer co-operation and dialogue between the two regions on all these issues and is backed with substantial EU development aid. EU financing plans are in place and being developed further, including participation in a regional fund to help implement the EPA.
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