Brussels, 12/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Human rights, sustainable development, trade, migration, climate change: the areas in which the EU/Caribbean partnership is to be increased, thanks to the EU/Cariforum high-level meeting in Brussels on Thursday 11 June, are legion.
Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, described it as a tightening of “close historical cultural and economic ties, based on common values”. The joint EU-Caribbean strategy of November 2012 is the framework for this partnership. The financial envelope of €356 million allocated to this region by the EU up to 2020 via the European Development Fund (EDF) is proportional to the stakes at hand (see other article).
Human rights: both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter, democracy and the rule of law, good governance (already laid down in the Cotonou agreement), inclusive social, environmental and economic development, and sustainable growth. These principles will be included in the bilateral political dialogue.
Migration: the officials welcomed the bilateral short-stay visa exemption agreements between the EU, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago, signed on 28 May of this year on the sidelines of the EU-ECP Council of Ministers (see EUROPE11323).
Climate: the leaders of the Cariforum and of the EU aim to reinforce their partnership in the framework of the United Nations to ensure that the climate conference of Paris (COP 21, 31 November - 11 December) leads to a “full, ambitious, fair and legally binding” agreement. Underlining the particular exposure of the island states of the Caribbean to natural disasters, they stress the need to increase international funding for climate action “with adequate, predictable and additional resources” in order, amongst other things, to help the vulnerable countries to increase their resilience.
Trade: both sides acknowledged that the implementation of the economic partnership agreement between the EU and Cariforum has experienced difficulties, referred to in the final press release as “challenges”. They agreed to carry out the five-year revision of the EPA “with a view to improving its performance” and recognise that the “EPA can offer important opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development”. They now just need to make it so. (Aminata Niang)