EPA fall out: Governance in Caricom

 By Dr Clive Thomas

For the past two weeks, this column has been assessing the consultation process pursued by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) during negotiations leading up to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). I have argued that although the CRNM negotiators and the EU Negotiating Body wanted those consultations to be meaningful in order to secure better results, more “partnership” and less exposure to criticism after the event, this did not occur. Failure to achieve this intent speaks volumes to the wider issue of economic governance in the regional integration arrangements of Caricom.

The decision to create a specialized agency – the CRNM — to pilot the negotiations with the EU was made as part of a broader remit to have that agency deal with all issues related to external trade negotiations. This was necessary at the time, given the fiasco attending the preceding WTO negotiations, where there was no effective Caricom coordination.