Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer

Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenedines, Ralph Gonzalves (right), in discussion with Louis Michel, European Union Commissioner in charge of development and humanitarian aid, during the three-day Special Meeting of Cariforum Heads of Government and Commissioners of the European Union. The meeting, which ended on Friday, was aimed at discussing trade, development and humanitarian aid between the Caribbean and the European Union. - Photo by Noel Thompson

WESTERN BUREAU:

The three-day Special Meeting of Cariforum Heads of Government and European commissioners ended in Montego Bay on Friday with considerable progress being made, despite several issues affecting the region remaining outstanding.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said there were a number of issues on which significant differences existed, but stressed that the parties had reached broad agreements in principle on several of the issues. He added that it was now left to the negotiators to fine-tune the areas on which agreements had been reached.

"All of this is going to be pursued with a view to concluding the negotiations. The draft agreement will have to be vetted for legal precision, but we intend to have the new agreement in place before December 31," said Golding.

Governments of the 15 Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) countries, which are part of the 79-member African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, were engaged in discussions with the European Union (EU) on the details of what would form the basis of an economic partnership agreement (EPA) that would replace the existing Cotonou arrangement between both trade groups. This agreement ends on December 31.

new arrangementsjanuary 2008

Golding said Caribbean govern-ments intend to make the new arrangement take effect on January 1, 2008. "There are some issues that will have to be further discussed in earnest. We are seeking to ensure World Trade Organization compatibility in all of the aspects discussed and ensure that the new EPA serves towards the development of the economies of the region," Golding said.

Peter Mandeleson, EU com-missioner in charge of trade, said the discussions were an example of what could be achieved with the Caribbean and the EU working together. "We are going to make this work," he asserted. "There are still some details to be hammered out, but we now have a clear idea where we want to go in order to meet the December 31 deadline and to extend it come January 2008.

"Trade reform will go hand in hand with substantial adjustments. Market-access changes will be prudent and progressive. There will be no overnight revolution, as our directions will be clear, balanced and in line with WTO require-ments," he said.

Mandelson stressed that economic partnership agreements offered de-veloping countries the chance to grow their markets and trade through regional integration and gradual liberalisation.

"Our past dependency on steadily eroding tariff preferences between the EU and ACP countries have failed to drive growth either in trade or living standards and have failed the very people they were intended to serve, as well as being discriminatory against other developing countries," Mandelson said. "Caribbean governments are showing vision and courage in coming to terms with this deteriorating situation. They have decided to harness trade and development in a modern and businesslike way and Europe will support them every inch of the way."

Commissioner Louis Michel, in charge of development and humanitarian aid, said the European Commission - (the executive arm of the EU - was ready to address the various concerns raised by the region's governments. He gave a breakdown of a raft of development-assistance programmes in place from which, he said, CARICOM could benefit.