A perusal of the several articles which end up in the BU inbox always make for interesting reading. One of the benefits of blogging is the opportunity to be exposed to many issues which come from many sources at a never ending pace. A recent article which appeared in the UK Guardian titled In a financial crisis, what counts is what works supports the point (credit to:Looking Glass). The following extract from the article has resonated with us all week:
Belief in Europe was just as messianic – and just as bonkers – as belief in the market. The idea was that you could take a dozen or more countries of wildly differing economic performance, with entirely disparate cultures, and bolt them harmoniously together. What’s more, you could do this without a common language to facilitate labour mobility or a common budget to transfer resources from rich countries to poor countries.
During the bubble years these fundamental design flaws were kept hidden, but they have been exposed by the crisis. Low interest rates allowed countries on the periphery to grow strongly for a while, covering up their steady loss of competitiveness against the country at Europe’s core, Germany. The financial crash resulted in a deep recession, soaring budget deficits and fears in the financial markets of debt default.
The only factor mentioned by the author of the article if the same observation were to be made about CARICOM/CSME is to accept we have a common language when compared to the EU.
What the article did was to spur us to complete this blog which has been gathering dust for the last three week. BU recalls the much heralded signing of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the EU and CARIFORUM countries in October 2008. It promised a lot but so far has delivered little. In light of the current EU economic woes one is left to wonder what bodes the CARIFORUM/EU EPA.
Professor Anthony Clayton of the University of the West Indies Institute for Sustainable Development said that the EPA has come at a time when the changing global environment provides both opportunities and existential challenges for the Caribbean.
It must adjust to the loss of preferential terms of trade and increasing competition from emerging economies, adapt to climate change and growing resource shortages, while simultaneously contending with trans-national organized crime, rising homicide rates and increased trafficking in illegal narcotics and firearms, he noted.
And “many of the Caribbean nations must do so from a basis of weak state capacity, heavy indebtedness and a legacy of divisive politics”, Clayton warned – IPS News
Unfortunately Professor Clayton’s comment does not recognize the current financial turbulence being experienced by many of the EU countries with Greece and Spain leading the way.
Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur has been a strident advocate of the benefits the EPAs can offer our region by forcing our small countries to embrace the need to become more efficient and competitive on the world stage. The Thompson government since assuming office has paid the usual lip service to supporting the EU EPA. One senses however even before the financial turbulence sweeping Europe took root that there was a wavering in the focus of the CARIFORUM group towards any rapid implementation of the EU EPA.
What was known but in hindsight horribly underestimated is the significant preparatory work which is required to position CARIFORUM countries to benefit from the EU EPA. To quote Malcom Spence of the CARICOM Secretariat, the failure to establish the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Ministerial Council has significantly hampered CARIFORUM’s ability to maximize the various features of the EPA.
BU family member ROK the head of BANGO, a grouping of NGOs has been hardworking to highlight the challenges of implementing the EPA-EU. Feedback from NGO personnel in Brussels Belgium, the headquarters of the EU Parliament does not paint a bright picture for the future of the CARIFORUM EU EPA. As we battle to implement the EPA-EU we should note that negotiations on EPA-Canada is well on the way.
Some financial pundits have predicted the collapse of the EU given the pressure on the Euro. To stabilize the Euro will be a challenge given the high debt burden of many of the EU countries and Germany’s unwillingness to bail them out. EU has been the model of sorts for trading blocs around the world including CARICOM. In light of all that is going on is it unreasonable to ask how do our regional leaders feel about it all? Do we need to re-chart our current path? What is the plan? Can we pin our hopes in the optimism of the G20 countries who released a Communiqué of the Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, Busan, Republic of Korea today (June 5, 2010)?
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.