EU to provide more financial assistance to region

THE European Union has promised to double the amount of financial assistance to the Caribbean Community countries.

This commitment has come from the European Union Delegate to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Mikael Barfod, who was defending the EU-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and its slow pace of implementation in the Caribbean.

EU Delegate to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean,
Ambassador Mikael Barfod (foreground, second from right),
speaking to media representatives at a recent function.

Responding to suggestions that there is disillusionment in the Caribbean with the EPA, Mr. Barfod told journalists that under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) covering the period 2014 to 2020, they will be doubling the amount of aid to the Caribbean.

He said that will be an improvement on the allocations in the current 10th EDF.

“We have been told that we need to speed up implementation (of the money) from day one. So that means we will have lots more money coming on stream in a couple of years while current programmes are continuing,” the Ambassador remarked.  

He stated that with the Caribbean experiencing deep financial crisis, now is not the time to measure the value of a trade agreement.

“It would be better to do that when the economic situation is a bit better,” Mr. Barfod told the media.

“But in my opinion there are a number of challenges,” he said, while suggesting that one area the region ought to take up is the agreement covering services.

He said that this is one on which the economy of Barbados depends a lot.

“It is clear that for the EPA to be a full success, companies have to exploit services and that is the only beginning,” said the Ambassador. “But it is beginning, it is a long process so I will not join the pessimistic commentators who say the EPA is going nowhere. It is going somewhere,” according to him.

The CARIFORUM EPA is the only one that Europe has signed with the Caribbean. It was reviewed some weeks ago in Grenada. Mr. Barfod said that the view then was that although implementation is not perfect, some progress is still being made. “There have been implementation units set up in many countries and when it comes to the tariffs which were to but cut in January 2011 and again this year, the picture is more mixed but we are making progress,” he remarked.

The official said the EU has provided financial support for the implementation of the agreement. “These operations are in full, I mean here we have CROSQ, Caribbean Export, development agencies are doing well having helped a number of industries that I hear a lot of positive comments,” he said.